Swedish Act of Succession

The Act of Succession, or "Successionsordningen", is a part of the Swedish Constitution. It was adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates on September 26, 1810, and it regulates the right of members of the House of Bernadotte to accede to the Swedish throne. The current monarch of Sweden is King Carl XVI Gustaf.

History

The Act of Succession was adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates assembled at Örebro in 1810, upon electing Charles XIV John (Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte) as the heir to King Charles XIII. This happened at a tumultuous time for Sweden, as only one year earlier the former king, Gustav IV Adolf had been deposed and replaced by his uncle, Charles XIII. At the same time the Finnish War was coming to an end and Finland, then a part of Sweden proper, was held by Russia. The authoritarian constitution of 1772 was abolished and power was returned to parliament by the new Instrument of Government adopted on June 6, 1809. From 1814 to 1905 the Act of Succession also regulated succession to the Norwegian throne, due to the union of Sweden-Norway.

Provisions

The act specifies that the monarch and the royal family shall belong to the "pure evangelical faith", i.e., the Church of Sweden, and that the royal offspring are to be brought up within the realm. The heir to the throne is not able to marry or embark on foreign travel without consent of the monarch. He or she is also prevented from becoming the head of state in another country, either by election or marriage, without the consent of the monarch and the government, by forfeit of all rights of succession for themselves and their heirs.

Reforms

In 1980, the rule of succession was changed from "agnatic" to "equal" primogeniture. This means that the eldest child of the monarch, "regardless of sex", is the first in line of succession. This created Victoria (born 1977) crown princess over her younger brother Prince Carl Philip (born 1979). At the same time the rights of succession to the throne were restricted to Carl XVI Gustaf and his descendants. However, a special addendum was made for Prince Bertil, Duke of Halland, an uncle to the king, so that he became third (and, from the birth of Princess Madeleine in 1982 to his death in 1997, fourth) in line to the throne. By 1995, changes in other parts of the constitution lowered the age of maturity for government from 25 to 18 years, the same age as the civil maturity. This meant that Victoria was able at the age of 18 to act as a regent, in place of her father when he was out of the country.

ee also

*Line of succession to the Swedish throne
*List of Swedish monarchs
*List of Swedish queens
*Dukes of Swedish provinces

External links

* [http://sv.wikisource.org/wiki/Successionsordning Successionsordning] - at Wikisource (in Swedish)
* [http://www.riksdagen.se/templates/R_Page____6310.aspx Act of Succession] - at the Riksdag