Uncodified constitution

The Structure of the Constitution

I. The Basic Structure of the Constitution

A. The Constitution is divided into 3 parts

Preamble

A. The preamble is the introduction to the Constitution.

b. The preamble is the “We the People” part of the

Constitution.

Articles

A. The Constitution is divided into 7 sections called Articles.

B. Each article explains a part of the Constitution.

c. 3 important articles:

1) Article I – explains the legislative branch (Congress)

2) Article II – explains the executive branch (President)

3) Article III – explains the judicial branch (Supreme

Court)

d. More Important Articles:

1) Article 5 – explains how to add amendments to the

Constitution.

2) Article 6 – called “The Supremacy Clause”; states that

Laws made by Congress are superior to state laws; state

Laws are not allowed to conflict with national laws.

Amendments

a. amendment – a formal written change to the Constitution

B. The Constitution has 27 amendments.

c. The first 10 amendments are SPECIAL – they are called:

The Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights lists the rights all citizens have

That the government cannot take away.

The Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution by

Congress in 1791 (the Constitution was written in

1787).

D. Other Important Amendments

The Civil War Amendments (c.1865)

a) 13^th Amendment – made slavery illegal in the U.S.

b) 14^th Amendment – all Americans are entitled to be

treated equally by the laws of the U.S. – created

Due process of law.

c) 15^th Amendment – former slaves have the same

Rights under the Constitution as all other

Americans.

2) 16^th Amendment (1913) – created the income tax

3) 19^th Amendment (1920) – gave women the right to vote

(1920)

4) 22^nd Amendment (1952) – limits the President to two

Four year terms.

5) 25^th Amendment (1967) – Presidential Succession –

Created rules to determine who is running the nation

If the President is killed or seriously ill.

6) 26^th Amendment (1971) – voting age changed to 18.

B. Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances

Separation of Powers

A. Each branch has certain jobs (powers) that the other

Branches cannot do.

Checks and Balances

A. Each branch has some power over the other branches

b. Example: Congress can pass laws, but the President can

Veto the law

*** Who cares??? What is the purpose of Separation of Powers and Checks and

Balances?? Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances were created so

That no one person and no one branch could dominate or take control of the

Government.

C. Organization of the Government

The federal government is divided into 3 branches.

(Triangle CHART!!!!!!!!!)

A. Legislative Branch (ARTICLE I)

The main job of the Legislative Branch is to make the laws

A) Congress makes up the legislative branch

(1) Congress is divided into 2 houses (parts: this is called

“bicameral”)

(a) House of Representatives – the number of

Representatives from each state is determined by

The population of the state (proportional

Representation); any law that raises or spends

Money must begin in the House of Representatives.

(b) Senate – 2 Senators from each state.

(c) Powers of the Legislative Branch

(1) tax

(2) create and regulate money

(3) regulate trade between the states

(4) declare war

(5) raise and support an army

(6) create laws “necessary and proper” to carry out

the Constitution; “Elastic Clause”

(7) impeach the President and Supreme Court judges

(8) pass a law “over” the President’s veto (2/3rds vote)

B. Executive Branch (ARTICLE II)

1) Carries out the nation’s laws and policies

Appoint the leaders of the Executive departments (Cabinet)

Make treaties with other nations

Commander in Chief of the Military

Appoint judges to the Supreme Court

Veto laws passed by Congress

C. Judicial Branch (ARTICLE III)

1) “judicial review” – the power the Supreme Court has to

Decide if a law passed by Congress, or a Presidential act,

Is constitutional.

A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed.^[1] These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is. When these principles are written down into a single document or set of legal documents, those documents may be said to embody a written constitution; if they are written down in a single comprehensive document, it is said to embody a codified constitution.

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, whether sovereign or federated, 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.

Classification

Type	Form	Example
Codified	in single act (document)	Most of the world constitutions.
Uncodified	fully written (in few documents)	San Marino, Saudi Arabia
Uncodified	partially unwritten (see constitutional convention)	C

Codification

A fundamental classification is codification or lack of codification. A codified constitution is one that is contained in a single document, which is the single source of constitutional law in a state. An uncodified constitution is one that is not contained in a single document, consisting of several different sources, which may be written or unwritten; see constitutional convention.

Codified constitution

Most states in the world have codified constitutions.

Codified constitutions are often the product of some dramatic political change, such as a revolution. The process by which a country adopts a constitution is closely tied to the historical and political context driving this fundamental change. The legitimacy (and often the longevity) of codified constitutions has often been tied to the process by which they are initially adopted and some scholars have pointed out that high constitutional turnover within a given country may itself be detrimental to separation of powers and the rule of law.

States that have codified constitutions normally give the constitution supremacy over ordinary statute law. That is, if there is any conflict between a legal statute and the codified constitution, all or part of the statute can be declared ultra vires by a court, and struck down as unconstitutional. In addition, exceptional procedures are often required to amend a constitution. These procedures may include: convocation of a special constituent assembly or constitutional convention, requiring a supermajority of legislators' votes, the consent of regional legislatures, a referendum process, and/or other procedures that make amending a constitution more difficult than passing a simple law.

Constitutions may also provide that their most basic principles can never be abolished, even by amendment. In case a formally valid amendment of a constitution infringes these principles protected against any amendment, it may constitute a so-called unconstitutional constitutional law.

Codified constitutions normally consist of a ceremonial preamble, which sets forth the goals of the state and the motivation for the constitution, and several articles containing the substantive provisions. The preamble, which is omitted in some constitutions, may contain a reference to God and/or to fundamental values of the state such as liberty, democracy or human rights.

Uncodified constitution

Magna Carta

As of 2013, only two sovereign states have uncodified constitutions, namely New Zealand and the United Kingdom; however, the Basic Laws of Israel are arguably its equivalent to a constitution.

Uncodified constitutions are the product of an "evolution" of laws and conventions over centuries. By contrast to codified constitutions (in the Westminster System that originated in England), uncodified constitutions include written sources: e.g. constitutional statutes enacted by the Parliament and also unwritten sources: constitutional conventions, observation of precedents, royal prerogatives, custom and tradition, such as always holding the General Election on Thursdays; together these constitute the British constitutional law.

The content and structure of the Constitution.

The content of any constitution is fixed on the basis of general principles and legal status of the person and the organization of public authority in the state. More generally, political and legal sense, the meaning of the constitution is a set of (unity) constitutional norms, institutions and principles that govern social relations involved in determining the legal status of a person in a state organization in her state, local government, the territorial government. However, as a rule, in the literature, referring to the content of the question of the constitution, pay attention to two aspects of this concept: social and pravovyy191. In the first case (the social aspect of the content of the constitution) suggest that the range of public relations, which, in fact, the rules governing the constitution. In the second case (the legal aspect of the content of the Constitution) provide legal analysis of the components of the constitution - the norms, institutions, principles. Dominant in the definition of the content of the constitution, for the most part, it becomes a circle (set) the social relations that are the subject of legal regulation of the constitution.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29