CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

The term constitutional amendment usually refers to a special procedure by which a constitution may be altered.

A constitution, particularly when it is written document, is often entrenched in some way, thus preventing from being changed by the expedient legislative process used for all other rulemaking. This entrenching may take the form of special second order rules within the constitution specifying the process for changing it — for example, requiring a particular portion of the membership to be given timely notice with an opportunity to vote on the change, not merely by a vote of the governing body; or the governing body may need a qualified (e.g. two-thirds) majority in order to pass the amendment.

The technicalities of amending a constitution vary; some examples follow.

In the United Kingdom, which has no written constitution, but subscribes to parliamentary supremacy, the legislature has the power to enact any law it wishes, even if rules that are considered to be part of the British constitutional law would be affected. On the one hand, this prevents changes to the constitution from being considered, in some way, a "sacrilegious" action; this model may however fail to adequately protect fundamental rights of individuals and minorities against the tyranny of the majority, though not all constitutional scholars agree with this position.
With the United States Constitution, amendments are appended to the original text, which in itself is not modified. One can therefore easily track all changes, but on the other hand cannot be sure whether a particular article, or even a previous amendment, is still in effect. Amendments must be initiated either by a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress or by the legislatures of two-thirds of the states, which may thus ask Congress to call a national convention to discuss and draft amendments. In either case, amendments must have the approval of three-fourths of the states before they enter into force.
Other countries require that constitutional amendments alter the text of the constitution itself. For example, according to Article 79, the Basic Law of Germany can only be modified by the Bundestag (parliament) and the Bundesrat both passing a bill with a two-thirds majority that explicitly lists what text is to be replaced and the replacement texts. This makes the bill itself unreadable, but keeps the actual constitution up-to-date. In addition, the amendment of certain articles is made impossible altogether.

Subject	Topic	Quote
Civil Liberties	Pakistan	A 1974 constitutional amendment declared Ahmadis to be a non-Muslim minority because, according to the Government, they do not accept Mohammed as the last prophet of Islam. (references)
	Turkey	In October a constitutional amendment expanded the rights of free assembly and association by placing the emphasis on citizens' rights and reducing the number of restrictions on their activities. (references)
Discrimination	Malaysia	On August 1, the Parliament unanimously approved a Constitutional amendment barring discrimination on the basis of sex. (references)
Economic History	Slovakia	In January 1999, Parliament passed a constitutional amendment allowing for direct election of the president. (references)
	Uruguay	The 1999 national elections were held under a new electoral system established by a 1996 constitutional amendment. (references)
	Zimbabwe	In the second quarter of 2000, Parliament adopted a constitutional amendment that provides for the creation of an anti-corruption commission. (references)
Human Rights	Zimbabwe	In April 2000, Parliament passed a constitutional amendment permitting the seizure of land without compensation. (references)
	Honduras	In April Congress ratified a constitutional amendment to restructure the Supreme Court and create an independent judiciary. (references)
	Bangladesh	The 12-point ruling declared which elements of the 1997 order could be implemented without requiring a constitutional amendment. (references)
Indigenous People	Australia	The mandate of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation, created by Parliament in 1991, expired in 2000. The Council's final report was released in December 2000, and it included recommendations that the federal and state governments set performance benchmarks and timelines for overcoming Aboriginal disadvantage and enact legislation to further the principles of legislation; that Parliament prepare legislation providing for a referendum on deleting a constitutional amendment on racial criteria for voting; and that the Constitution be amended to make racial discrimination unlawful. (references)
Minorities	Algeria	In September 1999, President Bouteflika stated that the Amazigh language would never be an official language; during the year he stated that the enhancement of the status of the Amazigh language would require a constitutional amendment. (references)
Political Economy	Croatia	In March a constitutional amendment abolished the upper house of Parliament (the House of Counties). (references)
Political Rights	Zimbabwe	Constitutional Amendment 9 authorizes the President to declare unilaterally a state of public emergency for a period of up to 14 days. (references)
	Bangladesh	A Government-sponsored bill to extend the provision could not be passed without a constitutional amendment, which would have required a two-thirds majority. (references)
	Guyana	In December 2000, Parliament passed a Constitutional Amendment Act that imposed a 7-year residence requirement on candidates for the presidency and sets a limit of two terms. (references)
Women	Switzerland	Although mandated by a constitutional amendment in 1945, no federal law on maternity insurance exists. (references)
	Malaysia	In August a new Constitutional amendment was enacted, supposedly rendering gender discrimination in immigration policy illegal. (references)
	Turkey	An October constitutional amendment codified the equality of the sexes within the family, ending the husband's legal status as the head of family. (references)
Worker Rights	Brazil	Due to a continuing failure to reach agreement on the proposal, the Cardoso administration withdrew a proposed constitutional amendment to end unicidade that it had submitted to Congress in 1998. In practice a number of competing unions have been allowed to exist among the thousands of local unions. (references)
	Turkey	Another constitutional amendment passed in October, which narrowed the scope of possible restrictions on the formation of unions, and another amendment made the State responsible for protecting the unemployed; however, no concrete steps towards implementing the legislation had been taken by year's end. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Domain	Definition
Law	A resolution changing the language of the State Constitution. It may be presented in bill form, by the Legislature or by initiative, which requires the populace to vote. (references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Domain	Title
Books	Responding to Imperfection: The Theory and Practice of Constitutional Amendment [DOWNLOAD: ADOBE READER] (reference) (more book examples)
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	The constitutional amendment!. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Speaker	Term	Phrase(s)
Bill Clinton	1993-2001	Whatever your view on that, we all must concede we don't need a constitutional amendment, we need action.
Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Expression	Frequency per Day
constitutional amendment	160
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Language		Translations for "CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.
German		Verfassungsänderung. (various references)

Pig Latin		onstitutionalcay amendmentay

Portuguese		emenda constitucional. (various references)

Spanish		corrección de constitución. (various references)

Swedish		grundlagsändring. (various references)
Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Specialty Definition: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Specialty Definition: Constitutional amendment

Crosswords: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Commercial Usage: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Books

Photo Album: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Non-Fiction Usage: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Speeches: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Bill Clinton

Frequency of Internet Keywords: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

Modern Translation: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

German

Pig Latin

Portuguese

Spanish

Swedish

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