■ أخبــــــار

Amidst increasing human casualties in what has virtually become a civil war, the regime of President Bashar Al Assad - which protesters are demanding to step aside - has issued a draft Constitution which it is proposing to put to referendum later this week. The draft Charter proposes to abolish the one party state dominated by the Baath party for the last forty years, and to establish a multi-party system. Multi- party elections will then be held within four months of the referendum vote.

Hungary's new Constitution, which was adopted in April 2011 went into force, amidst popular protests, as of January 1, 2012. The Constitution replaces the old Charter of 1949, which was heavily amended in 1989 during the transition from Communism. In a New York Times article entitle 'Hungary's Constitutional Revolution', Princeton University's Kim Lane Scheppele has described the judiciary as being hit the hardest by the new Constitution.