Tag: constitution-making
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The Constituent Dilemma in Latin America
–Gabriel L. Negretto, Associate Professor, Division of Political Studies, CIDE Since the great revolutions of the late eighteenth century, the central principle of democratic constitutionalism has been that the people, as the supreme authority in a polity, is the only legitimate author of constitutions.
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Egypt’s new constitutional declaration: Back to square one?
–Zaid Al-Ali, International IDEA(cross-posted from www.foreignpolicy.com) On July 8, Adli Mansour, Egypt’s new interim president who until recently was a member of the country’s Supreme Constitutional Court, issued yet another “constitutional declaration.” This comes after a year of failed leadership by former President Mohamed Morsi, the historic June 30 demonstrations, the intervention by the military,…
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Should the Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments Doctrine be Part of the Canon?
—David Landau, Florida State University College of Law The concept of substantively unconstitutional constitutional amendments, for example in the Indian “basic structure” doctrine, presents one of the strangest puzzles in comparative constitutional law. It raises obvious and substantial problems from the standpoint of democratic theory, raising a kind of ultimate counter-majoritarian difficulty.
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The Politics of Tunisia’s Final Draft Constitution
–Duncan Pickard, Democracy Reporting International and Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East at the Atlantic Council [cross-posted from MENASource, a project of the Rafik Hariri Center] Tunisia’s constitution-drafting process has reached another milestone: the committee coordinating the drafting of the country’s post-authoritarian constitution presented its third and final draft to the National Constituent Assembly on April…
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Egypt’s Constitution: The Religious Pot
–Mohamed Abdelaal, Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, Alexandria University School of Law Immediately after the Egyptian Revolution in 2011, which ended thirty years of repression and dictatorship under the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak, Egyptians faced the serious challenge of electing a new president and building a new Egypt.
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Bachelet Appoints Group to Study New Constitution for Chile
—Claudia Heiss, Instituto de Asuntos Publicos, Universidad de Chile On April 23rd former President of Chile Michelle Bachelet (2006-2010), the front-runner candidate for the November presidential election, announced a commission to study a new constitution. The group is composed of nine lawyers (including two women) some of whom contributed to the 2005 reform signed by…
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Ireland’s Constitutional Convention Considers Same-Sex Marriage: Part II
—Eoin Carolan, University College Dublin Ireland’s Constitutional Convention has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a proposal to amend the Irish Constitution to allow for civil marriage for same-sex couples. 79 Convention members favoured the proposal with 19 against and 1 expressing no opinion.
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Creating a Constitutional Process Design for Libya via Constitutional Amendment
—Lorianne Updike Toler, The Constitutional Sources Project & Lorianne Updike Toler Consulting. The feared unrest in Libya prior to 15 February and now the confusion introduced by the Libyan Supreme Court’s decision last Tuesday to invalidate Amendment No. 3 of Libya’s Constitutional Declaration can all be attributed to the poor constitutional design of the Declaration…
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Constitution-Making in Turkey: Towards a Presidential System?
—Ozan Varol, Assistant Professor, Lewis & Clark Law School Although recent academic and popular commentary on constitution-making has largely focused on the constitutional transitions in progress across the Arab World, I wanted to take this opportunity to update the I•CON community on the constitution-drafting process currently underway in Turkey.