The Constitution of Nagorno-Karabakh was adopted by a nationwide referendum on December 10, 2006. 90077 voters partook in the Referendum, with 77279 voters or 85.79% of the participants voted for and 554 voters or 0.61% of the participants voted against the acceptance of the Main Law. This constitution established Nagorno-Karabakh as a sovereign, democratic state based on social justice and the rule of law. The "Nagorno Karabakh Republic" and "Artsakh Republic" designations are both given equal formal standing. Stepanakert is defined as the state's capital. Power is vested in its citizens, who exercise it directly through the election of government representatives. Decisions related to changes in constitutional status or to an alteration of borders are subject to a vote of the citizens of Nagorno-Karabakh exercised in a referendum. There are 142 articles in the 2006 constitution.
Structure
The Constitution consists of a preamble and 12 chapters.
We, the people of Artsakh:
- filled with the spirit of freedom;
- realizing the dream of our ancestors and the natural right of people to lead a free and secure life in the Homeland and to create;
- showing a firm will to develop and defend the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh formed on September 2, 1991 on the basis of the right of self-determination and proclaimed independent by a referendum conducted on December 10, 1991;
as a free, sovereign state of citizens with equal rights, where a human being, his life and security, rights and freedoms are of supreme value,
- affirming faithfulness to the principles of the Declaration of Independence of the Republic of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic adopted on January 6, 1992;
- recalling with gratitude the heroic struggle of our ancestors and present generations for the restoration of freedom, bowing to the memory of the perished in a war forced upon us;
- fulfilled with the power of unity of all Armenians of the world;
- reviving the historic traditions of statehood in Artsakh;
- aspiring to establish good-neighborly relations with all peoples, first of all with our neighbors, on the basis of equality, mutual respect and peaceful co-existence;
- staying faithful to the just world order in conformity with universal values of the International law
- recognizing our own responsibility for the fate of our historic Homeland before present and future generations;
- exercising our sovereign right,
- for us, for generations to come and for those that will wish to live in Artsakh, adopt and proclaim this Constitution.