KINDS OF CONSTITUTION.pptx

Constitution

CONSTITUTION IS DEFINED AS:

“The body of those written or unwritten

fundamental laws which regulate the most important

rights of the higher magistrates and the most important essential privileges of the

subjects."

WHY DO WE NEED CONSITUTION?

To state how your

association is to be

structured

To detail the safeguards needed to

ensure that it operates fairly on

behalf of the whole

community

As a basic requirement to apply for

funding

Nature and Purpose of a Constitution

1) It serves as a supreme or fundamental law

• Charter that created a government•Binding all individual citizens and

parts of the government together as one• The ultimate law ; the law other

laws must abide by

• Test of legality by government officials

2) Establishes the basic framework and underlying principles of the

government• Prescribes the permanent framework

of the system of government, and assigns to the different department or branches, their respective powers and duties

• Establishes certain basic principles by which the government is founded

• Designed to preserve and protect the rights of the citizens against the powers of the state

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

ACCORDING TO FORM

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION WRITTEN

CONSTITUTION

UNWRITTEN CONSITUTION

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

Written constitution

• One which has been given definitive written form at particular time, usually by a specially constituted authority called a “constitutional convention”

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

Unwritten Constitution• One which is entirely the product of political evolution,

consisting largely of a mass of customs, usages and judicial decisions together with a smaller body of statutory enactments of

fundamental character, usually bearing different dates.

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

Pros and cons of a written constitution

• Pro: It has the advantage of clearness, definiteness, and rigidness that the unwritten doesn’t have. It cannot be easily altered.

• Con: It is difficult to make changes. To change, it requires to go through “charter changing” which may take a while before any changes can be made.

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

ACCORDING TO

THEIR ORIGIN

KINDS

Conventional or Enacted

Cumulative or Evolved

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

Conventional or Enacted Constitution

One is

enacted by a constituent assembly

or granted by a monarch

of his subject

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

Japanese Constitution

Cumulative or Evolved

One which is a product of long growth or a long period of development originating in customs, traditions, judicial decisions, etc., rather than from a deliberate and formal enactment.

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

ACCORDING TO

MANNER OF AMENDMENT

Kinds

•Rigid or inelastic•Flexible or elastic

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

Rigid or Inelastic Constitution

• One regarded as a document of “special sanctity” which cannot be modified in the same manner as other laws except by some special machinery, more burdensome than the ordinary legislative process.

KINDS OF CONSTITUTION

Constitution Of the United States of America

Flexible or elastic

• One which possesses no higher legal authority than ordinary laws and which may be altered or amended in the same way as other laws.

Exercise

• Israel’s constitution is an accumulated body of documents and precedents, some of which date back to biblical times. Is the constitution of Israel enacted or evolved? Why?

• In Sweden, constitutional amendments must be passed by two successive legislatures, with a general election in between. As to amendment, is their constitution rigid or flexible? Why?

• The British Constitution consists of some laws passed by the Parliament and court decisions and no single document has been codified as constitution to set forth the basic principles of the organization of power. As to form, is the British Constitution written or unwritten? Why?

Thank you!