A Common Concept of the Constitution

1.     

A  Common Concept of the Constitution  

Introduction:

The Constitution word uses is in the sense of composition or the constituent parts of something and how they are put together, its characteristic frame or nature. With respect to a community the use of constitution suggests a characteristic way of life, the national character of a people, fundamental nature as a people, particular history and social conditions. A constitution will vary from time to time or place to place as few instances we can say from comparative Constitution Project of 2016 the longest written constitution of the world is the constitution of India containing 444 articles in 22 parts, on the other hand, the constitution of Monaco is the shortest written constitution containing 97 articles in chapters with a total of 3814 words. This brings to the fore the necessity of so framing a constitution that it will be suited to the genius of the people and accord with the social forces at work in the community  and at the same time capable of readily responding to and  keeping pace with the requirements of Social Change. The constitution should state the rules of supreme law binding on all institutions of governments and to be effective there should be as few as possible, very general and fundamental and set forth in clear, precise and unambiguous language.

 

2.  1.      The Supremacy of the Constitution:

The Concept of the supremacy of the constitution confers the highest authority in a legal system on the constitution. Stating this principle does not mean just giving a rank order of legal norms. The supremacy of Law dealt with the institutional structure of the organs of state.¹ the scope of the principle becomes clear if we formulate a comparative ranking like:

·         Lower-ranking of the statute

·         Lower-ranking of the legislature

The notion of the constitution as paramount law made the nullity of unconstitutional acts conceivable. So, there are three traits that primarily characterize the principle of supremacy of constitution:

v  The possibility of distinguishing between constitutional and other Laws

v  The legislators being bound by the constitutional law which presupposes special procedures for amending Constitutional Law

v  An institution with the authority in the event of conflict to check the constitutionality of governmental legal acts

 

The principle of the supremacy of the Constitution attains its practical points only with the introduction of Constitutional Jurisdiction.² The basic law established a special institution designed to enforce the constitution against any other government authority.  It was also to be a safeguard against dictatorship and disregard of human rights.

 

3.      What is Constitution?

A constitution is an aggregation of fundamental principles and policies to regulate a state. The term constitution comes from the Latin word constitutio, which means regulations and orders. According to Social Science “The constitution is a rule of conduct developed by the government or society over a certain territory to regulate it”. In line with that Political science has a different view “Constitution, the body of doctrines and practices that form the fundamental organizing principles of a political state. But Generally, Constitution is a formal document that defines the nature of the constitutional frame of a state; these include rules that govern the political system and the rights of the Citizens and governments in a structural way.

4.      Wide-ranging times went by The Constitution:

The Constitution of the USA which is the oldest and shortest written constitution still in force since 1789. The anthropologist found evidence called “Code of Justice” issued by Sumerian King of Lagash (2300 BC) by a modern excavation in 1877. Many Governments regulated by special codes of written laws such as Code of Ur-Nammu (2050 BC) but the first codified law was the code of Hammurabi (1754 BC). Constantly, Aristotle was the first to make a formal distinction between ordinary law and constitutional law, establishing ideas of constitution and constitutionalism (is an amalgam of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law), and attempting to classify different forms of constitutional government.³  In 1722 the Iroquoian (the combination of six-nation) from North America made an oral Constitution also known as the great law of peace but In 1639, the colony of Connecticut adopted the fundamental orders to regulate them which was the first North American Constitution. But the enlightened constitution model was developed by the philosophers of the age of enlightenment. Like, Thomas Hobbes (founder of Modern Political Philosophy) and John Locke (Father of Liberalism).

 

In line with the age of enlightenment (I called it, the era of clarification) there was a list of formal Constitution to regulate states. Such as

• v  The Constitution of USA (Ratified in 21^st June 1788)
• v  Polish-Lithuanian Common Wealth Constitution (May 1791)⁴
• v  French Constitution (September 1971)
• v  Constitution of Venezuela (1811)
• v  Spanish Constitution (1812)
• v  Norwegian Constitution ( Democratic and Liberal Constitution) 1814
• v  The Mexican Constitution (1824)⁵
• v  The Constitution of Canada (1867)

 

5.      Concluding Remark:

 Every democratic country has a constitution which is a vital document, according to which the country carries out its operations. Constitution protects the rights of the citizens of a concerned nation, irrespective of their religion, caste, creed, sex, or physical appearance. A constitution, thus, can be safely said to be a social contract between the government and the people it governs.

 

6.      References:

 

1.       Ronald Dworkin, An introduction to Constitutional Law (Oxford University Press, 1998).

2.       Dieter Grimm, “Human Rights and Judicial Review in Germany, A Comparative Perspective (Page 267-270) 1994.

3.       Francis D. Wormuth the origins of Modern Constitutionalism (1949). 

4.       The History of Law and Rise of Democracy (2018)

5.       Payne, Stanley G, A history of Spain and Portugal: Eighteenth Century to Franco (1973).