Nominally, a 'Statute of Autonomy' is a
law hierarchically located under the
constitution of a country, and over any other form of legislation (including
organic laws). This legislative corpus concedes a degree of
autonomy to a
subnational unit, and the articles usually mimic the form of a constitution, establishing the organization of the autonomous government, the electoral rules, the distribution of competences between different levels of governance and other regional-specific provisions, like the protection of cultural or lingual realities.
In
Spain, the process of
devolution after the
transition to democracy (
1979) created 17
Autonomous Communities each one having its own Statute of Autonomy. In
June 18,
2006,
Catalonia approved in
referendum a new but controversial
Catalan Statute of Autonomy, enhancing the degree of autonomy of this Spanish region.
See also
★
Scotland Act 1998
★
Government of Wales Act 1998
★
Northern Ireland Act 1998