What is Constitutional Law?
Constitutional law is a legal scope, which relates to the practice, study, interpretation and ultimately the administration of laws established by a country or state’s constitution. In the United States, for instance, the United States Constitution if the foundation for all forms of constitutional law. All legal subjects that deal with an individual or body’s constitutional rights, as well as the infringements of these rights, are encompassed within constitutional law.
The majority of cases evaluated by constitutional law will be enshrouded in the rights and liberties latent in a constitution. In the United States, the majority of constitutional law cases are heard by the United States Supreme Court—the highest court in the country. When the Supreme Court evaluates a case dealing with constitutional law, the acting justice will write opinions or deliver judgments based on their interpretation of the United States Constitution.
Not every state or region possesses a constitution; however, areas with an affirmed legal code possess some sort of framework to elucidate upon the law of the land. In its essence, a constitution not only delivers the individual citizen’s basic rights and liberties, but balances the power of governmental relationships through a system of checks and balances. The United States Constitution, for example, balances the powers between the legislature, the judiciary and the executive bodies under the umbrella of the federal government.
Basic Principles of Constitutional Law:
The field of constitutional law is flexible; constitutional law has been amended through various Supreme Court decisions. In its initial form, the United States constitution possessed seven articles. These articles are still listed; however, since the ratification of the United States Constitution, 27 additional amendments have been added. When the United States Constitution is amended, the interpretive laws within the framework are effectively re-constructed to better fit contemporary times. That being said, the ability to amend the constitution is difficult; since the initial construction of the United States Constitution, over 10,000 amendments have been proposed and subsequently shot down. As a result, constitutional law and the interpretation of laws within the United States Constitution are forever, subject to scrutiny.
Changes to the United States Constitution:
Although difficult, amendments to the United States constitution have an enormous after-effect on the general function of society. The 13 Amendment, for instance, effectively abolished slavery in the United States and the 26th amendment allowed any citizen of the country (over the age of 18) to vote in public elections.
Heezy on the tables...throwing some heat
Changes to the constitution are made possible through the language latent in the framework. The full texts of each article and their joining amendments are written in terms that subject to interpretation. This language allows legislative bodies or political parties to argue or evaluate the laws latent in the articles.
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