Constitutional law

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Constitutional law is the study of foundational laws that govern the scope of powers and authority of various bodies in relation to the creation and execution of other laws by a government. A constitution binds a government or governments, limiting the contexts in which rules may be created, interpreted and force may be applied. Constitutions may reference various bodies, including organizations, associations, stateless peoples and nation-states.

Most commonly constitutional law is the law of these foundational laws, customs, and constitution a conventions in regard to nation-states. Not all nation-states have constitutions, though all such states have a jus commune, or law of the land, that may consist of a variety of imperative and consensual rules, that may be customary law, oral law and written law that apply in the various jurisdictions of such state. Of those nation-states that do have constitutions, not all are considered strictly written constitutions, as the laws that govern such issues may not be consolidated into one single constitution document or instrument. The constitutional law may be the fact of interpreting a variety of text which may also be informed by history, custom and unwritten constitutional conventions . Compare, for example, the written Constitution of the United States with British constitutional law, which arises from multiple sources including Magna Carta, the common law, and other customary sources. In some countries, the constitution is known as the Basic Law.

Constitutional laws may often be considered second order rulemaking or rules about making rules of exercise power. One of the key tasks of constitutions within this context is to indicate hierarchies and relationships of power. Thus, for example, in the case of a unitary state, the Constitution will vest ultimate authority in one central administration and legislature, and judiciary, though there is often a delegation of power or authority to local or municipal authorities. Whereas when a constitution establishes a federal state, it will identify the several levels of government coexisting with exclusive or shared areas of jurisdiction over lawmaking, application and enforcement.

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See also

• Australian constitutional law
• British constitutional law
• Canadian constitutional law
• Indian constitutional law
• Spanish constitutional law
• United States constitutional law
• Basic Laws
• European Community law