Fundamental Law of Vatican City State

The Fundamental Law of Vatican City State (Italian : Legge Fondamentale dello Stato della Città del Vaticano) is the main governing legal document of the Vatican's civil entities. The Fundamental Law has existed since 1929.

The Fundamental Law was first published on 7 June 1929, on the authority of Pius XI.^[1]

On 26 November 2000, Pope John Paul II promulgated a new version of the Fundamental Law. It obtained the force of law on 22 February 2001, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter, and replaced in its entirety the Fundamental Law of Vatican City of 7 June 1929. All the norms in force in Vatican City State which were not in agreement with the new Fundamental Law were abrogated.^[2]

On 13 May 2023, Pope Francis published a new version of the Fundamental Law.^[1] This new version took effect on 7 June 2023.^[3]

Pope Leo XIV subsequently signed a new version of the Fundamental Law on 31 July 2026, with immediate entry into force.^{[4] [5]}

• Law of Vatican City

• Dalla Torre, Giuseppe (2002). "La nuova legge fondamentale dello Stato della Città del Vaticano". Angelicum. 79 (3): 711–724. ISSN 1123-5772. JSTOR 44617069.
• La Vella, Giancarlo (2023年05月13日). "New Fundamental Law gives Vatican a renewed missionary impetus". Vatican News. Retrieved 2023年05月14日.
• Gagliarducci, Andrea (18 May 2023). "What does Pope Francis' new 'Fundamental Law' mean for Vatican City State?". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on 9 Dec 2025. Retrieved 2023年05月19日.

• 1929 version (in Italian)
  • in the AAS supplement, pp. 2-5 and 34-37 of the PDF
• 2000 version; also here (in Italian) (in English)
  • in the AAS supplement, pp. 1054-64 of the PDF
• 2023 version (in Italian)
  • in L'Osservatore Romano
• 2026 version (in Italian)
  • in L'Osservatore Romano
• "Normativa generale". www.vaticanstate.va.