This is a very long and complicated story.

On 9 May 2011, at the very end of President Préval’s term of office, the legislature in Haiti passed a series of amendments to the 1987 constitution. On 3 June 2011 the new President, Michel Martelly, issued a decree cancelling the amendments because of procedural irregularities. There were questions about whether the wording of the amendments was the same in the version that was sent to the president and the version that was officially published. There was also an issue about the process by which the amendments were adopted and with the fact that there was no creole version. So, there was the potential for different jurisprudence depending on the language of the text that was considered.

The controversy has dragged on for more than a year. However, President Martelly has now rescinded his previous decree. So, the amendments come into force.

The changes are very extensive. A total of 128 articles were amended. They included some very controversial matters, such as the creation of a permanent electoral commission, a constitutional council, and gender quotas for legislative elections. There were also a lot of minor changes to executive/legislative relations.

Apparently, the text will be republished in the official journal, Le Moniteur, again.