TITLE:
Comparative Study on the Procedures, Limits, and Control of Constitutional Revisions
AUTHORS:
Kodio Ahmed Hedieloum
KEYWORDS:
Constitution, Constitutional Revision, Constitutionality Review, Democracy, Referendum
JOURNAL NAME:
Beijing Law Review,
Vol.10 No.3,
June
27,
2019
ABSTRACT: People always have the right to reform and change its Constitution. One generation cannot subject future generations to its laws. Constitutional amendments are acts and actions that will make it possible to amend the Constitution. More specifically, these acts and activities will repeal parts of the rules or their entirety and replace them with other laws. These changes are required by the need to breathe the texts and consolidate democracy. Constitutional revision is a mechanism envisaged by any State Constitution to adapt it to the social and political aspirations of the State. It can intervene to correct certain outdated and incomplete provisions in the Constitution. This constitutional mechanism must in principle take into account the spirit of constitutionalism and democracy. It requires that in the process of readjusting the constitution, the separation of powers, human rights and freedoms and the alternation of state power be preserved. This spirit of constitutionalism and democracy means that the Constitution remains above all a sacred instrument, a flagship guide of society to which we must continuously submit or comply. Any constitutional revision must be necessary, relevant and take into account the current political and social environment. A modification of the Constitution is proper if and only if its proposals constitute effective solutions to the problems or weaknesses identified that justified the initiative of the review process. But this mechanism can often become a doorway that can facilitate the destruction of the desacralization of the Basic Law. As main content, through this study, we have highlighted the sound characteristics of constitutional revisions in different countries. The study, through a comparative approach to constitutional provisions, allowed us to highlight the legal specifications of the States that were the subject of our research. Thus, our analyses show that the revision of the Constitution varies from one State to another; from one constitutional system to another. The study also allowed us to analyze the legal framework of constitutional review procedures in constitutionalism. When these rules of form and substance are not respected, it is up to the constitutional court to act as a guarantor of the constitutional order.