Andorra Government and Politics

State and politics

Andorra Country Flag

Reference: Andorra Flag Meaning

According to AllCityCodes.com, the President of France and the Spanish bishop of Urgel are still the country’s heads of state, but their positions are essentially formal. The legislative power lies with a Parliament, the General Council (Consell General), whose 28 members are elected in general elections every four years. The Executive holds the Government, which is responsible to the General Council. The Head of Government (Cap de Govern) appoints other members of government, who may not simultaneously be members of the General Council.

Only in 1993 were political parties allowed in Andorra. Also see AbbreviationFinder for abbreviation of AD and its meanings of Andorra. General elections to Parliament were held later that year. The policy was dominated during the 1990s and most of the first decade of the 2000s by the Andorra Liberal Party (PLA), which was government-led in 1994–97, 1997–2001, 2001–05, and 2005–09. In the 2009 election, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), led by Jaume Bartumeu, prevailed after voting on promises of reforms of Andorra’s tax system and financial sector rules, with the aim of creating a more diverse economy and washing away the country’s reputation of being a tax haven. The Bartumeu government, however, lacked a majority in Parliament and therefore failed to push through its budget, leading to re-election in 2011. The election became a major victory for the newly formed Party of Democrats for Andorra (DA), which received 55 percent of the vote. DA’s leader Antoní Marti was appointed new Prime Minister. The party was formed through a merger of the PLA and the Christian Democratic Party New Center as well as some defunct Social Democrats. The DA retained government power even after the 2015 election, despite the party backing by just over 15 percentage points.

Since 1993 Andorra has been a member of the UN and of the Council of Europe. In 1994, cooperation agreements were signed with both France and Spain. Andorra has a customs union with the EU since 1991 and since 2005 a cooperation agreement with the EU that regulates other areas such as education, transport and the environment.

Judiciary

The basis of the legal system consists of Roman law and customary law, as it was written down in the 18th century. It is closely related to Catalan customary law. Andorra has different courts for litigation and criminal cases. In litigation, the plaintiff may, in his or her own choice, bring an action either at Batlle français or Batlle episcopal, appointed by the respective regent. The appellate judge is alternately appointed by one of the regents for a five-year term. The third and last instance is in France (Perpignan) or with the bishop of Urgel, also in this instance according to the appeal of the appellant. The death penalty was abolished in 1990; the last execution took place in 1943.

Andorra Head of Government

Dictionary of History

Andorra Western European state, in the Pyrenean region, between Spain and France. In the 9th century. the territory of Andorra was under the authority of the Spanish bishop of Urgel (Catalonia). Later the area was also claimed by French feudal lords, becoming the subject of a dispute that found a first agreement in 1278, when a form of Franco-Spanish double sovereignty was established. In 1607 the powers of the counts of Foix, co-owners of the principality, were acquired by the French crown; in 1806 Napoleon transformed Andorra into a republic. In 1993 the new democratic constitution attributed a purely honorific meaning to the traditional co-principality, exercised by the French head of state and the bishop of Urgel.

 

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