Constitution of Lesotho, 1993
Succession to the throne of Lesotho
Status: in_forceRetrieved: 2026-08-18T07:53:58.473596+00:00Release: constitutions-global-20260821-v2
45. Succession to the throne of Lesotho
(1) The College of Chiefs may at any time designate, in accordance with the customary
law of Lesotho, the person (or the persons, in order of prior right) who are entitled to
succeed to the office of King upon the death of the holder of, or the occurrence of any
vacancy in, that office and if on such death or vacancy, there is a person who has
previously been designated in pursuance of this section and who is capable under the
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customary law of Lesotho of succeeding to that office, that person (or, if there is more than
one such . person, that one of them who has been designated as having the first right to
succeed to the office) shall become King.
(2) If, on the death of the holder of, or the occurrence of any vacancy in, the office of
King, there is no person who becomes King under subsection (1), the College of Chiefs
shall, with all practical speed and in accordance with the customary law of Lesotho,
proceed to designate a person to succeed to the office of King and the person so
designated shall thereupon become King.
(3) Whenever the holder of the office of King or a Regent -
(a) has occasion to be absent from Lesotho for a period which the College of Chiefs
has reason to believe will be of short duration; or
(b) is suffering from an illness which the College of Chiefs has reason to believe will be
of short duration,
the College of Chiefs may for the time being designate a person, in accordance with the
customary law of Lesotho, to exercise the functions of the office of King, and any person
for the time being so designated may exercise all the functions of the office of King during
the absence or illness of the holder of that office or the Regent.
(4) Every designation made for the purposes of this section shall be published in the
Gazette.
(5) Where any person has been designated to succeed to the office of King in
pursuance of subsection (1) or (2), any other person who claims that, under the customary
law of Lesotho, he should have been so designated in place of that person may, by
application made to the High Court within a period of six months commencing with the
day on which the designation was published in the Gazette, apply to have the
designation varied by the substitution of his own name for that of the first mentioned
person, but, save as provided in this Chapter, the designation of any person for the
purposes of this section shall not otherwise be called in question in any court on the
ground that, under the customary law of Lesotho, the person designated was not entitled
to be so designated.
(6) Pending the decision of the High Court or, as the case may be, of the Court of Appeal,
a designation which is the subject of the appeal shall remain of full force and effect.
(7) In this section references to a vacancy in the office of King are references to a vacancy
caused by the abdication of the King or by a resolution or resolutions of Parliament under
that office.
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