Micky Smart Short Note Center
Constitutional law book I short note
1
, Chapter One
Basic Conceptual Framework
What is the political concept of state?
The assemblage of people having common interests and who unite together by the
consciousness of those common purposes, and when man finds himself in such a situation,
then as aptly said by Aristotle, man becomes a social animal.
When such aggregates of people start living a settled life in a more or less definite territory
and begin to realize their common, social purposes of life, man in such processes of activities
ends-up in the creation of a state.
What is the central element of state?
The central notion in state is the existence of power relationship between and among
individuals and institutions. It is this very relationship that is the raison d’être of all political
institutions.
In this respect, institution should be taken as “an idea of an undertaking which is realized
and which persists in a social environment”. It is its endurance and permanence in a social
matrix that makes an institution distinct from other social factors, for all social facts are not
institutions.
Institutions may take the form of either “institutions personas” i.e. groups of human beings
and establishments; and “institution of things and concepts
Law, consisting all these elements, reflecting a legal system and attached to state, falls in the
category of institutions. Law in the widest sense of the term may therefore be identified as
“[t]he sum of the conditions of social life….. As secured by the power of the state through the
means of compulsion.”
What is the role of constitution in a given state?
constitution, as a foundation of political order a mechanism by, or a channel through
which political power is converted into an institution of the state, as a consequence of
which power is structured.
Seen from this vantage point, a constitution is none other than the institutionalization and
legitimization of state power, in accordance with which authority is exercised and the
limitations of which is prescribed therein. Here again, when a constitution is seen from the
latter point of view it is a means of establishing controlled government.
2
,What is the relationship between constitution and politics?
Constitutional Law can be said to be at a border line between Political Science and Law. A
constitution is therefore, an interface of two disciplines; i.e. Political Science and the law of
Constitution.
Is constitution means the document?
Here, a constitution is not taken to mean a document. It rather signifies here the embodiment
and existence of agreement as to what constitutes power and who does what and how.
Where the agreement relates to “what”, we say this is an agreement on substantive matters.
When it relates to “how”, we qualify it as an agreement on procedural matters.
What are the possible consensus of the society in a politics?
they are three;
a. The ideal model of a consensual society, is one in which the people value, accept and use
the government according to widely accepted and internalized rules.
b. On the contrary, the model non consensual society has a government which operates
either under no rule or under rules that are not as such valued or accepted.
c. The one in which the individual either does not want to use or is unable to make use of or
impede governmental actions for solving his problems. Here, there is no consensus, and
therefore the state relies upon outright force.
Verify State as a Juristic Person or elements of state?
There are four conditions which must be fulfilled for the existence of a state.
a. People: an aggregate of individual who live together as a community, though they may
belong to different ethnic, creed, cultures or be of different colors.
b. Territory: on which the people are settled; although there is no strict rule that the
frontiers of a state must be fully demarcated and defined; they may still be disputed.
c. Government: which acts on behalf of the people and governs according to the law. Once
a state is established as an entity, interruption of the effectiveness of its government
temporarily, as in the cases such as a civil war or occupation, would not necessarily
amount to the non-existence of the state.
d. Sovereign government. Sovereignty is supreme authority, or independence all around,
within and with out the borders of the country.
What is sovereignty or sovereign state?
3
, Sovereign state is, a state whose citizens are in the habit of obedience to it and which is not
itself subject to any other (or paramount) state in any aspect.
These powers, seen from two perspectives – i.e. external and in internal – constitute
sovereignty. Sovereignty should, therefore, be appreciated as a cluster of power consisting
of external and internal aspects; each aspect having multiple qualities and facets.
What is the external aspect of sovereignty?
it is the sovereignty of one state in relation to other sovereign state.
The basic principle of external sovereignty is elaborated by the Charter of the UN.
Accordingly all states enjoy sovereign equality. They have equal rights and duties and are
equal members of the international community not withstanding differences of an
economic, social, political or other nature.
What are the basic elements of sovereign equality in external element?
In particular, sovereign equality includes the following elements:
States are judicially equal;
Each state enjoys the rights inherent sovereignty in full;
Each state has the duty to respect the personality of other states;
The territorial integrity and political independence of the state are inviolable;
Each state has the right to freely to choose and develop its political, social, economic
and cultural systems;
Each state has the duty to comply fully and in good fully with its international
obligation and to live in peace with other states.
Is the territorial sovereignty is absolute?
The principle laid by International Law is that wherever a person or a thing is on or enters
into that territory, the person or the thing is, ipso facto, subject to the jurisdictional authority
of the state. Provided that, other state(s) may not exercise its (their) power within the
boundaries of the home territory.
International treaties may, however, restrict the jurisdictional sovereignty of a state in the
exercise of its sovereignty the first and perhaps the true exception in this respect is the so-
called state-condominium, where more than one state exercises sovereignty conjointly.
4
Constitutional law book I short note
1
, Chapter One
Basic Conceptual Framework
What is the political concept of state?
The assemblage of people having common interests and who unite together by the
consciousness of those common purposes, and when man finds himself in such a situation,
then as aptly said by Aristotle, man becomes a social animal.
When such aggregates of people start living a settled life in a more or less definite territory
and begin to realize their common, social purposes of life, man in such processes of activities
ends-up in the creation of a state.
What is the central element of state?
The central notion in state is the existence of power relationship between and among
individuals and institutions. It is this very relationship that is the raison d’être of all political
institutions.
In this respect, institution should be taken as “an idea of an undertaking which is realized
and which persists in a social environment”. It is its endurance and permanence in a social
matrix that makes an institution distinct from other social factors, for all social facts are not
institutions.
Institutions may take the form of either “institutions personas” i.e. groups of human beings
and establishments; and “institution of things and concepts
Law, consisting all these elements, reflecting a legal system and attached to state, falls in the
category of institutions. Law in the widest sense of the term may therefore be identified as
“[t]he sum of the conditions of social life….. As secured by the power of the state through the
means of compulsion.”
What is the role of constitution in a given state?
constitution, as a foundation of political order a mechanism by, or a channel through
which political power is converted into an institution of the state, as a consequence of
which power is structured.
Seen from this vantage point, a constitution is none other than the institutionalization and
legitimization of state power, in accordance with which authority is exercised and the
limitations of which is prescribed therein. Here again, when a constitution is seen from the
latter point of view it is a means of establishing controlled government.
2
,What is the relationship between constitution and politics?
Constitutional Law can be said to be at a border line between Political Science and Law. A
constitution is therefore, an interface of two disciplines; i.e. Political Science and the law of
Constitution.
Is constitution means the document?
Here, a constitution is not taken to mean a document. It rather signifies here the embodiment
and existence of agreement as to what constitutes power and who does what and how.
Where the agreement relates to “what”, we say this is an agreement on substantive matters.
When it relates to “how”, we qualify it as an agreement on procedural matters.
What are the possible consensus of the society in a politics?
they are three;
a. The ideal model of a consensual society, is one in which the people value, accept and use
the government according to widely accepted and internalized rules.
b. On the contrary, the model non consensual society has a government which operates
either under no rule or under rules that are not as such valued or accepted.
c. The one in which the individual either does not want to use or is unable to make use of or
impede governmental actions for solving his problems. Here, there is no consensus, and
therefore the state relies upon outright force.
Verify State as a Juristic Person or elements of state?
There are four conditions which must be fulfilled for the existence of a state.
a. People: an aggregate of individual who live together as a community, though they may
belong to different ethnic, creed, cultures or be of different colors.
b. Territory: on which the people are settled; although there is no strict rule that the
frontiers of a state must be fully demarcated and defined; they may still be disputed.
c. Government: which acts on behalf of the people and governs according to the law. Once
a state is established as an entity, interruption of the effectiveness of its government
temporarily, as in the cases such as a civil war or occupation, would not necessarily
amount to the non-existence of the state.
d. Sovereign government. Sovereignty is supreme authority, or independence all around,
within and with out the borders of the country.
What is sovereignty or sovereign state?
3
, Sovereign state is, a state whose citizens are in the habit of obedience to it and which is not
itself subject to any other (or paramount) state in any aspect.
These powers, seen from two perspectives – i.e. external and in internal – constitute
sovereignty. Sovereignty should, therefore, be appreciated as a cluster of power consisting
of external and internal aspects; each aspect having multiple qualities and facets.
What is the external aspect of sovereignty?
it is the sovereignty of one state in relation to other sovereign state.
The basic principle of external sovereignty is elaborated by the Charter of the UN.
Accordingly all states enjoy sovereign equality. They have equal rights and duties and are
equal members of the international community not withstanding differences of an
economic, social, political or other nature.
What are the basic elements of sovereign equality in external element?
In particular, sovereign equality includes the following elements:
States are judicially equal;
Each state enjoys the rights inherent sovereignty in full;
Each state has the duty to respect the personality of other states;
The territorial integrity and political independence of the state are inviolable;
Each state has the right to freely to choose and develop its political, social, economic
and cultural systems;
Each state has the duty to comply fully and in good fully with its international
obligation and to live in peace with other states.
Is the territorial sovereignty is absolute?
The principle laid by International Law is that wherever a person or a thing is on or enters
into that territory, the person or the thing is, ipso facto, subject to the jurisdictional authority
of the state. Provided that, other state(s) may not exercise its (their) power within the
boundaries of the home territory.
International treaties may, however, restrict the jurisdictional sovereignty of a state in the
exercise of its sovereignty the first and perhaps the true exception in this respect is the so-
called state-condominium, where more than one state exercises sovereignty conjointly.
4
