A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, they can be appended to the constitution as supplemental additions (codicils), thus changing the frame of government without altering the existing text of the document.
Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation. Examples of such special procedures include supermajorities in the legislature, or direct approval by the electorate in a referendum, or even a combination of two or more different special procedures. A referendum to amend the constitution may also be triggered in some jurisdictions by popular initiative.
Australia and Ireland provide examples of constitutions requiring that all amendments are first passed by the legislature before being submitted to the people; in the case of Ireland, a simple majority of those voting at the electorate is all that is required, whereas a more complex set of criteria must be met in Australia (a majority of voters in a majority of states is also necessary). Switzerland has procedure similar to that of Australia.
The special procedures for the amendment of some constitutions have proven to be so exacting, that of proposed amendments either few (eight Amendments out of 44 proposed in Australia), or none (as in Japan) have been passed over a period of several decades. In contrast, the former constitution of the U.S. state of Alabama was amended 977 times between its adoption in 1901 and its replacement by the current constitution in 2022.
Form of changes to the text
There are a number of formal differences, from one jurisdiction to another, in the manner in which constitutional amendments are both originally drafted and written down once they become law. In some jurisdictions, such as Ireland, Estonia, and Australia, constitutional amendments originate as bills and become laws in the form of acts of parliament. This may be the case notwithstanding the fact that a special procedure is required to bring an amendment into force. Thus, for example, in Ireland and Australia although amendments are drafted in the form of Acts of Parliament they cannot become law until they have been approved in a referendum. By contrast, in the United States a proposed amendment originates as a special joint resolution of Congress that does not require the President to sign and that the President can not veto.
The manner in which constitutional amendments are finally recorded takes two main forms. In most jurisdictions, amendments to a constitution take the form of revisions to the previous text.[citation needed] Thus, once an amendment has become law, portions of the original text may be deleted or new articles may be inserted among existing ones. The second, less common method, is for amendments to be appended to the end of the main text in the form of special articles of amendment, leaving the body of the original text intact. Although the wording of the original text is not altered, the doctrine of implied repeal applies. In other words, in the event of conflict, an article of amendment will usually take precedence over the provisions of the original text, or of an earlier amendment. Nonetheless, there may still be ambiguity whether an amendment is intended to supersede or to supplement an existing article in the text.
An article of amendment may, however, explicitly express itself as having the effect of repealing a specific existing article.[1] The use of appended articles of amendment is most famous as a feature of the United States Constitution, but it is also the method of amendment in a number of other jurisdictions, such as Venezuela.
Under the 1919 German Weimar Constitution, the prevailing legal theory was that any law reaching the necessary supermajorities in both chambers of parliament was free to deviate from the terms of the constitution, without itself becoming part of the constitution. This very wide conception of "amendment" eased the rise of Adolf Hitler to power; it was consequently explicitly ruled out in the postwar 1949 constitution, which allows amendments only by explicitly changing the constitution's text.
Summary of methods
| Constitution | Proposed by | Approval by | Referendum requirement | Majority needed | Entrenched clauses? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | President | Legislature | No | 2/3 | Yes |
| Albania | Legislature (1/5) | Legislature | Yes | 2/3 + >50% | No |
| Algeria | President | Both houses of legislature + referendum (or Constitutional council + both houses of legislature) | >50% (or 3/4) | Yes | |
| Andorra | Monarch | Legislature | Yes | 2/3 + >50% | No |
| Legislature (1/3) | |||||
| Angola | President | Legislature | 2/3 | Yes | |
| Legislature (1/3) | |||||
| Antigua and Barbuda | Both houses of legislature | Yes | 2/3 (>50% in upper house) + 2/3 | No | |
| Argentina | Legislature (2/3) | Constitutional convention | No | 2/3 | No |
| Armenia | 1/3 of Parliament, the Government, or 200,000 voters for certain amendments; 1/4 of Parliament, the Government, or 150,000 voters for others. Additional 300,000 voters overrides need for Parliament. | Legislature | Sometimes | 2/3 (+ >50%). | Yes |
| Australia | Legislature (1 member) | Both houses of legislature | Yes | >50% (absolute) in legislature + >50% (simple) nationally and in 4 of the 6 states and in any state where certain rights of that state are affected | No |
| Austria | Lower house (+ upper house in certain cases) | Sometimes (fundamental changes) | 2/3 + (2/3) | No | |
| Bahrain | Legislature (15 members) | Both houses of legislature (or joint session) | Yes | 2/3 (or 2/3) | Yes |
| Bangladesh | Legislature | Yes | 2/3 | Yes | |