What is constitution ? Constitution

What is constitution

Constitution is the supreme law of the country. The constitution of any law of the country used to state or declare as the constitution is the fundamental law of that country. Any law inconsistent with this constitution shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void. Constitution is the most authentic political and legal written document in which the political system of the nation, formation of the organs of the nation and the use of the power of the nation are mentioned. A perfect constitution reflects the true face of the country because the country is governed as per the provision made in the constitution. 

Functions of constitution: 

• It determines the structure of the government.
• It limits power of the government.
• It divides the state power into various organs of the government and maintains relations among them.
• It legitimates the functions of the state.
• IT guarantees the right of people.
• It instruct the constitutional authorities to function within the jurisdiction.
• It makes the rules responsible and accountable towards the citizens.

According to the assumption of modern democratic nation. people are the main source of the nation and they are sovereign. The main objective of making constitution is to protect people's right and freedom from being confiscated dictatorially by the state authority. The constitutional system is developed to check anarchism, dictatorship and despotism. The country is not necessarily called a democratic country even if the ruling is made according to constitution. Democratic country is that country which has accepted self-government and limited-government . This is the modern assumption that these facts should be considered while making constitution.

 

The political system economic status, social and cultural situation, geographical status, etc. of a country influences in the form of constitution. Although the world history of constitutional tradition is long, the written constitutions came into existence only in the last of 18th century. Traditionally, the main function of the constitution was to determine the ruler. Today, most of the countries in the world have written constitution according to their norms and values and running their ruling system according to it.

The modern constitution are found to have adopted the assurance of people's right and concept of limited government. While formulating a constitution, people's with aspirations and concerns are addressed. The check and balance system is also made appropriate according to the time and situation through the means of amendment. It is important for the overall development of a country that its people should participate in the formulation of laws and acts. People should make their constitution by themselves. The will and aspiration of people should be reflected in the constitution. There should be people's affinity towards the constitution. There should be the provision of amendment in the constitution so that it can be reformed according to the changing situation of the country. Such things make the constitution long lasting. All the people should practice the constitutional character. The constitutional based on the equality, freedom and justice becomes a democratic constitution. 

There are written and unwritten constitutions in the world. Britain, the mother of all democracy, does not have a written constitution. The country is ruled according to the prevailing tradition, customs, norms, convictions and practices. These customs, conventions, policy and rules have been reformed according to the need, time and situation of the country. The first country to write its constitution is the United States of America. It is the shortest constitution in the world too. Since the constitution came into force in 1789 AD, it has been amended for twenty-seven times. 

The constitution is important to maintain law and order, to fulfill people's aspirations, to achieve peace , prosperity and stability and to guide the nation to the right direction.

There are some important characteristics of good constitution. They are as follows:

Clarity:  Provisions for constitutional articles, sub-articles, schedules must be very clear and should not be ambiguous at all. They should be written in simple language .

Flexibility: The constitution should be flexible. There should be provisions for amendment of the constitution according to the need of time, situation, necessity and feeling of the people and the country.

Broad Based :    The constitution must be able to embrace every aspects of the state like the nature and scope of the government, people's rights and duties, political powers and so on.

Fundamental Rights :   The constitution must spell out the fundamental rights clearly and have provision for their protection and promotion.

Independent Judiciary:   The constitution must guarantee independence of judiciary to protect the interest of the citizens.

Separation of power :    The constitution should make the clear provision of separation of power among the three organs of the state keeping them interdependent and self-restrained.

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