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Constitution Definition

(Wikipedia) - Constitution For other uses, see Constitution (disambiguation).


Constitutions concern different levels of organizations, from sovereign states to companies and unincorporated associations. A treaty which establishes an international organization is also its constitution, in that it would define how that organization is constituted. Within states, a constitution defines the principles upon which the state is based, the procedure in which laws are made and by whom. Some constitutions, especially codified constitutions, also act as limiters of state power, by establishing lines which a state''s rulers cannot cross, such as fundamental rights. An example is the constitution of the United States of America.

George Washington at Constitutional Convention of 1787 signing of the U.S. Constitution.

The Constitution of India is the longest written constitution of any sovereign country in the world, containing 444 articles in 22 parts, 12 schedules and 118 amendments, with 117,369 words in its English-language translation, while the United States Constitution is the shortest written constitution, at 7 articles and 27 amendments.

  • 1 Etymology
  • 2 General features
  • 3 History and development
    • 3.1 Pre-modern constitutions
    • 3.2 Modern constitutions
      • 3.2.1 Democratic constitutions
  • 4 Principles of constitutional design
  • 5 Governmental constitutions
    • 5.1 Key features
      • 5.1.1 Classification
      • 5.1.2 Codification
        • Codified constitution
        • Uncodified constitution
        • Written versus unwritten; codified versus uncodified
      • 5.1.3 Entrenchment
        • Absolutely unmodifiable articles
      • 5.1.4 Distribution of sovereignty
      • 5.1.5 Separation of powers
      • 5.1.6 Lines of accountability
      • 5.1.7 State of emergency
    • 5.2 Façade constitutions
  • 6 Constitutional courts
  • 7 See also
  • 8 References
  • 9 External links


The term constitution comes through French from the Latin word constitutio, used for regulations and orders, such as the imperial enactments (constitutiones principis: edicta, mandata, decreta, rescripta). Later, the term was widely used in canon law for an important determination, especially a decree issued by the Pope, now referred to as an apostolic constitution.

General features

Generally, every modern written constitution confers specific powers to an organization or institutional entity, established upon the primary condition that it abide by the said constitution''s limitations. According to Scott Gordon, author of Controlling the State: Constitutionalism from Ancient Athens to Today a political organization is constitutional to the extent that it "contain institutionalized mechanisms of power control for the protection of the interests and liberties of the citizenry, including those that may be in the minority."



History and development Pre-modern constitutions
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Ancient MesopotamiaDetail from Hammurabi''s stele shows him receiving the laws of Babylon from the seated sun deity.



Diagram illustrating the classification of constitutions by Aristotle.Antiquity




The Edicts of Ashoka established constitutional principles for the 3rd century BC Maurya king''s rule in Ancient India. For constitutional principles almost lost to antiquity, see the code of Manu.



Middle Ages

The Constitution of Medina (Arabic: صحیفة المدینه‎, Ṣaḥīfat al-Madīna), also known as the Charter of Medina, was drafted by the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It constituted a formal agreement between Muhammad and all of the significant tribes and families of Yathrib (later known as Medina), including Muslims, Jews, and pagans. The document was drawn up with the explicit concern of bringing to an end the bitter inter tribal fighting between the clans of the Aws (Aus) and Khazraj within Medina. To this effect it instituted a number of rights and responsibilities for the Muslim, Jewish, and pagan communities of Medina bringing them within the fold of one community—the Ummah. The precise dating of the Constitution of Medina remains debated but generally scholars agree it was written shortly after the Hijra (622). It effectively established the first Islamic state. The Constitution established: the security of the community, religious freedoms, the role of Medina as a haram or sacred place (barring all violence and weapons), the security of women, stable tribal relations within Medina, a tax system for supporting the community in time of conflict, parameters for exogenous political alliances, a system for granting protection of individuals, a judicial system for resolving disputes, and also regulated the paying of Blood money (the payment between families or tribes for the slaying of an individual in lieu of lex talionis).


The Pravda Yaroslava, originally combined by Yaroslav the Wise the Grand Prince of Kiev, was granted to Great Novgorod around 1017, and in 1054 was incorporated into the Russkaya Pravda, that became the law for all of Kievan Rus. It survived only in later editions of the 15th century.

Copy of Magna Carta from 1297

In England, Henry I''s proclamation of the Charter of Liberties in 1100 bound the king for the first time in his treatment of the clergy and the nobility. This idea was extended and refined by the English barony when they forced King John to sign Magna Carta in 1215. The most important single article of the Magna Carta, related to "habeas corpus", provided that the king was not permitted to imprison, outlaw, exile or kill anyone at a whim—there must be due process of law first. This article, Article 39, of the Magna Carta read:



The Nomocanon of Saint Sava (Serbian: Законоправило/Zakonopravilo) was the first Serbian constitution from 1219. This legal act was well developed. St. Sava''s Nomocanon was the compilation of Civil law, based on Roman Law and Canon law, based on Ecumenical Councils and its basic purpose was to organize functioning of the young Serbian kingdom and the Serbian church. Saint Sava began the work on the Serbian Nomocanon in 1208 while being at Mount Athos, using The Nomocanon in Fourteen Titles, Synopsis of Stefan the Efesian, Nomocanon of John Scholasticus, Ecumenical Councils'' documents, which he modified with the canonical commentaries of Aristinos and John Zonaras, local church meetings, rules of the Holy Fathers, the law of Moses, translation of Prohiron and the Byzantine emperors'' Novellae (most were taken from Justinian''s Novellae). The Nomocanon was completely new compilation of civil and canonical regulations, taken from the Byzantine sources, but completed and reformed by St. Sava to function properly in Serbia. Beside decrees that organized the life of church, there are various norms regarding civil life, most of them were taken from Prohiron. Legal transplants of Roman-Byzantine law became the basis of the Serbian medieval law. The essence of Zakonopravilo was based on Corpus Iuris Civilis.

Stefan Dušan, Emperor of Serbs and Greeks, enacted Dušan''s Code (Serbian: Душанов Законик/Dušanov Zakonik) in Serbia, in two state congresses: in 1349 in Skopje and in 1354 in Serres. It regulated all social spheres, so it was the second Serbian constitution, after St. Sava''s Nomocanon (Zakonopravilo). The Code was based on Roman-Byzantine law. The legal transplanting is notable with the articles 171 and 172 of Dušan''s Code, which regulated the juridical independence. They were taken from the Byzantine code Basilika (book VII, 1, 16–17).




Around 1240, the Coptic Egyptian Christian writer, ''Abul Fada''il Ibn al-''Assal, wrote the Fetha Negest in Arabic. ''Ibn al-Assal took his laws partly from apostolic writings and Mosaic law, and partly from the former Byzantine codes. There are a few historical records claiming that this law code was translated into Ge''ez and entered Ethiopia around 1450 in the reign of Zara Yaqob. Even so, its first recorded use in the function of a constitution (supreme law of the land) is with Sarsa Dengel beginning in 1563. The Fetha Negest remained the supreme law in Ethiopia until 1931, when a modern-style Constitution was first granted by Emperor Haile Selassie I.



Third volume of the compilation of 1585

In Catalonia, the Catalan constitutions were promulgated by the court from 1283 until 1716, when Philip V of Spain gave the Nueva Planta decrees, finishing with the historical laws of Catalonia. These Constitutions were usually made as a royal initiative, but required the favorable vote of the Catalan Courts, the medieval antecedent of the modern Parliaments. These laws had, as the other modern constitutions, preeminence over other laws, and they could not be contradicted by mere decrees or edicts of the king.


Iroquois "Great Law of Peace" Main article: Great Law of Peace


Historians including Donald Grinde, Bruce Johansen and others believe that the Iroquois constitution provided inspiration for the United States Constitution and in 1988 was recognised by a resolution in Congress. The thesis is not considered credible by some scholars. Stanford University historian Jack N. Rakove stated that "The voluminous records we have for the constitutional debates of the late 1780s contain no significant references to the Iroquois" and stated that there are ample European precedents to the democratic institutions of the United States. Francis Jennings noted that the statement made by Benjamin Franklin frequently quoted by proponents of the thesis does not support for this idea as it is advocating for a union against these "ignorant savages" and called the idea "absurd". Anthropologist Dean Snow stated that though Franklin''s Albany Plan may have drawn some inspiration from the Iroquois League, there is little evidence that either the Plan or the Constitution drew substantially from this source and argues that "...such claims muddle and denigrate the subtle and remarkable features of Iroquois government. The two forms of government are distinctive and individually remarkable in conception."

Modern constitutionsThe Bendery Constitution by Hetman Pylyp Orlyk.


In 1639, the Colony of Connecticut adopted the Fundamental Orders, which was the first North American constitution, and is the basis for every new Connecticut constitution since, and is also the reason for Connecticut''s nickname, "the Constitution State".

The English Protectorate that was set up by Oliver Cromwell after the English Civil War promulgated the first detailed written constitution adopted by a modern state; it was called the Instrument of Government. This formed the basis of government for the short lived republic from 1653 to 1657 by providing a legal rationale for the increasing power of Cromwell, after Parliament consistently failed to govern effectively.


The Instrument had difficulty in gaining widespread acceptance as it was widely rejected by both the radicals and Royalists, and Parliament refused to accept it as the basis of its authority. It was eventually replaced by the even more short-lived "Humble Petition and Advice" in May 1657 which finally met its demise in conjunction with the death of Cromwell and the Restoration.

Agreements and Constitutions of Laws and Freedoms of the Zaporizian Host was the first European constitution in a modern sense. It was written in 1710 by Pylyp Orlyk, hetman of the Zaporozhian Host. This "Constitution of Pylyp Orlyk" (as it is widely known) was written to establish a free Zaporozhian-Ukrainian Republic, with the support of Charles XII of Sweden. It is notable in that it established a democratic standard for the separation of powers in government between the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches, well before the publication of Montesquieu''s Spirit of the Laws. This Constitution also limited the executive authority of the hetman, and established a democratically elected Cossack parliament called the General Council. However, Orlyk''s project for an independent Ukrainian State never materialized, and his constitution, written in exile, never went into effect.



Democratic constitutions


The United States Constitution, ratified June 21, 1788, was influenced by the British constitutional system and the political system of the United Provinces, plus the writings of Polybius, Locke, Montesquieu, and others. The document became a benchmark for republicanism and codified constitutions written thereafter.

May 3rd Constitution (painting by Jan Matejko, 1891). Polish King Stanisław August (left, in regal ermine-trimmed cloak), enters St. John''s Cathedral, where Sejm deputies will swear to uphold the new Constitution; in background, Warsaw''s Royal Castle, where the Constitution has just been adopted.

Next were the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Constitution of May 3, 1791, and the French Constitution of September 3, 1791.

On March 19, 1812 a enlightened constitution was ratified in Spain by a parliament gathered in Cadiz, the only Spanish continental city which was safe of French occupation. The Spanish Constitution served as a model for other liberal constitutions of several South-European and Latin American nations like, for example, Portuguese Constitution of 1822, constitutions of various Italian states during Carbonari revolts (i.e., in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), the Norwegian constitution of 1814, or the Mexican Constitution of 1824.




The Constitution of Canada came into force on July 1, 1867 as the British North America Act, an act of the British Parliament. The BNA Act unified the colonies of Canada East (Quebec), Canada West (Ontario), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick into the self-governing Dominion of Canada. Over a century later, the BNA Act was patriated to the Canadian Parliament and augmented with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Since then, the written constitution as a whole has been known as the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982, while the original BNA Act is called the Constitution Act, 1867. Apart from the Constitution Acts, 1867 to 1982, Canada''s constitution also has unwritten elements based in common law and convention. Canadian author and philosopher John Ralston Saul describes the Canadian Constitution as "the second-oldest working constitution in the world."

Principles of constitutional design


The Renaissance brought a series of political philosophers who wrote implied criticisms of the practices of monarchs and sought to identify principles of constitutional design that would be likely to yield more effective and just governance from their viewpoints. This began with revival of the Roman law of nations concept and its application to the relations among nations, and they sought to establish customary "laws of war and peace" to ameliorate wars and make them less likely. This led to considerations of what authority monarchs or other officials have and don''t have, from where that authority derives, and the remedies for the abuse of such authority.






Governmental constitutionsPresidential copy of the Russian Constitution.


Key features


Classification Type Form Example
Uncodified fully written (in few documents) San Marino, Saudi Arabia
Uncodified partially unwritten (see constitutional convention) Canada, Israel, NZ, UK


Codified constitution

Most states in the world have codified constitutions.





Uncodified constitution Main article: Uncodified constitutionMagna Carta



Written versus unwritten; codified versus uncodified

Some constitutions are largely, but not wholly, codified. For example, in the Constitution of Australia, most of its fundamental political principles and regulations concerning the relationship between branches of government, and concerning the government and the individual are codified in a single document, the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia. However, the presence of statutes with constitutional significance, namely the Statute of Westminster, as adopted by the Commonwealth in the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act 1942, and the Australia Act 1986 means that Australia''s constitution is not contained in a single constitutional document. It means the Constitution of Australia is uncodified, it also contain constitutional conventions, thus is partially unwritten.

The Constitution of Canada, which evolved from the British North America Acts until severed from nominal British control by the Canada Act 1982 (analogous to the Australia Act 1986), is a similar example. Canada''s constitution consists of almost 30 different statutes.


The U.S. Constitution







Further information: Fundamental Laws of England Absolutely unmodifiable articles


An example of absolute unmodifiability is the German Federal Constitution. This states in Articles 1 and 20 that the state powers, which derive from the people, must protect human dignity on the basis of human rights, which are directly applicable law binding on all three branches of government, which is a democratic and social federal republic; that legislation must be according to the rule of law; and that the people have the right of resistance as a last resort against any attempt to abolish the constitutional order. Article 79, Section 3 states that these articles cannot be changed, even according to the methods of amendment defined elsewhere in the document.


Distribution of sovereignty See also: Federalism






Separation of powers Main article: Separation of powers


Lines of accountability



State of emergency Main article: State of emergency

Many constitutions allow the declaration under exceptional circumstances of some form of state of emergency during which some rights and guarantees are suspended. This deliberate loophole can be and has been abused to allow a government to suppress dissent without regard for human rights—see the article on state of emergency.

Façade constitutions See also: Constitutionalism

Italian political theorist Giovanni Sartori noted the existence of national constitutions which are a façade for authoritarian sources of power. While such documents may express respect for human rights or establish an independent judiciary, they may be ignored when the government feels threatened, or never put into practice. An extreme example was the Constitution of the Soviet Union that on paper supported freedom of assembly and freedom of speech; however, citizens who transgressed unwritten limits were summarily imprisoned. The example demonstrates that the protections and benefits of a constitution are ultimately provided not through its written terms but through deference by government and society to its principles. A constitution may change from being real to a façade and back again as democratic and autocratic governments succeed each other.

Constitutional courts Further information: Constitutional court and Constitutionality



Some countries, mainly those with uncodified constitutions, have no such courts at all. For example the United Kingdom has traditionally operated under the principle of parliamentary sovereignty under which the laws passed by United Kingdom Parliament could not be questioned by the courts.

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