Constitutional Amendment and Dismemberment

84 Pages Posted: 28 Nov 2016 Last revised: 8 Sep 2020

See all articles by Richard Albert

Richard Albert

University of Texas at Austin - School of Law; University of Texas at Austin - Department of Government; Yale University; University of Toronto - Faculty of Law; São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP; University of Ottawa - Faculty of Law; Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Derecho; Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliyah - Radzyner School of Law; Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo; Airlangga University; Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai

Date Written: September 5, 2017

Abstract

Some constitutional amendments are not amendments at all. They are self-conscious efforts to repudiate the essential characteristics of a constitution and to destroy its foundations. And yet we commonly identify transformative changes like these as constitutional amendments no different from others.

A radically transformative change of this sort is not a constitutional amendment. It is a constitutional dismemberment. A constitutional dismemberment is a deliberate effort to disassemble one or more of the constitution’s constituent parts, whether codified or uncodified, without breaking the legal continuity that is necessary if not useful for maintaining a stable polity. Dismemberment seeks to transform the identity, the fundamental values or the architecture of the constitution.

In this Article, I introduce and theorize the phenomenon, concept, doctrine and theory of constitutional dismemberment. Drawing from jurisdictions around the world — Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Honduras, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Saint Lucia, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Caribbean and the European Union — I explain how constitutional dismemberment responds to the major challenges in constitutional change today. How should constitutional designers structure the rules of constitutional change? How may political actors legally and legitimately formalize transformative changes to a constitution? Should courts review the constitutionality of constitutional amendments? And how may we redeem the foundational theory of constituent power to give it some purchase in modern constitutionalism? The theory of constitutional dismemberment offers a suite of pragmatic solutions to these enduring puzzles in the modern study of constitutional change and in the design of its procedures.

Keywords: Constitutional Amendment, Constitution-Making, Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendment, Constituent Power, United States Constitution, Article V, Constitutional Convention, Unamendable Constitutional Provision, Unamendability, Comparative Constitutional Law, Constitutional Design

Suggested Citation

Albert, Richard, Constitutional Amendment and Dismemberment (September 5, 2017). 43 Yale Journal of International Law 1 (2018), Boston College Law School Legal Studies Research Paper No. 424, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2875931 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2875931

Richard Albert (Contact Author)

University of Texas at Austin - School of Law ( email )

727 East Dean Keeton Street
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HOME PAGE: http://law.utexas.edu/faculty/richard-albert

University of Texas at Austin - Department of Government ( email )

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United States

Yale University

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University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

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São Paulo Law School of Fundação Getulio Vargas FGV DIREITO SP

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São Paulo, 01330-000
Brazil

HOME PAGE: http://direitosp.fgv.br

University of Ottawa - Faculty of Law ( email )

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Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6N5
Canada

HOME PAGE: http://commonlaw.uottawa.ca

Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Derecho

Calle 12 # 1-17 este
Calle 12 0 83
Bogota D.C, Cundinamarca 3456
Colombia

HOME PAGE: http://www.uexternado.edu.co/derecho

Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliyah - Radzyner School of Law ( email )

P.O. Box 167
Herzliya, 46150
Israel

HOME PAGE: http://www.idc.ac.il/en/schools/law/pages/home.aspx

Universidad de Especialidades Espíritu Santo ( email )

Facultad de Derecho
Av. Samborondón 5
Samborondón, 092301
Ecuador

HOME PAGE: http://uees.edu.ec/postgrado/postgrado-derecho

Airlangga University

Dharmawangsa Dalam Selatan
Surabaya, East Java 60286
Indonesia

HOME PAGE: http://www.unair.ac.id

Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai ( email )

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Hiranandani Gardens, Powai, Mumbai 400076
Maharashtra
India

HOME PAGE: http://mnlumumbai.edu.in/vaf.php

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