9 ms·
All 104 amendments to the Constitution of India as Git commits
- abahlo 6y agoShouldn‘t it be one commit if they were amended? /s
- mishraprince 6y agoAn amendment in the Indian Constitution is an act/law/bill in itself. It does modify the core document (the constitution) but it has an independent existence. In that sense, one could argue that every "amendment" is a bugfix, feature-request of sorts. Debatable both ways. I personally like the idea of independent commits better as the "git browse" UIs handle individual commits better.
- ra7 6y agoIt’s a joke about git commit --amend.
- mishraprince 6y agolol, I took it too seriously then. I thought it to be a reference towards squashing all amendments into one commit.
- carlsborg 6y agoI look forward to the day when constitutional amendments are pull requests.
- mishraprince 6y agoAbsolutely! It would be a dream come true if Indian law-makers start doing things in the public, allowing public to comment/vet their ideas/thoughts/plans on upcoming legislations. I'm not sure if you're aware: currently the farmers in India's capital are protesting against the farm acts the Govt. introduced. The acts are supposed to do good to the farmers, but since they did not involve them, there is a lot of misinformation and protest.
- gwright 6y agoNot just constitutional amendments, legal documents of all kinds would benefit from standard formatting and version control. One difficult challenge is that text-line based diffs don't work well for free-form text documents. Line length, line breaks, paragraph breaks, list formatting, etc. are very ad-hoc in most legal documents.
- smlckz 6y agoIf diff is not enough, you have wdiff. :)
- gwright 6y agoHelpful, but in the real-world legislative systems I've interacted with, the patch (the bill text) isn't formatted as an algorithmic diff against the base documents (statutes, for example). It is a baroque system that requires huge amounts of clerical effort to keep aligned and which makes understanding all but the simplest changes a mind-numbing exercise.
- Udik 6y agoIn Italy (and I guess in many other places) laws are effectively commits, not documents/ files. The actual law is often implicit in the result of the successive modifications each new law applies to the existing ones. Which is terrible from a usability perspective- it's like working with lists of patches instead of files. I think software engineers- thanks to much faster iteration cycles and having clarity and order as their only concern- have developed solutions and practices that absolutely can and should be applied also to the management of the law.
- gwright 6y agoI think you are just describing the difference between a bill (what is debated and discussed during the legislative process), and the compendium of statutes (or regulations, etc.) that is updated via the legislative process. My understanding is that there are always administrative departments responsible for updating and publishing the statutes based on the bills that have been passed. This is effectively applying a patch approved by the legislative process to the repository of statutes. If you try to dig into a mainstream news story about legislative actions to the actual bill text you'll quickly find that for all but the simplest actions the bill text is useless for understanding the effect of the bill. The problem is that you need the surrounding context of the statute or regulation that is being amended in order to understand. At least for my state and the US federal legislative systems, the web based UI for understanding all this is abysmal. The cynic in me thinks that legislators don't even understand the true nature of their own legislation. They are making voting decisions based on staff summaries, verbal discussions, media reports, constituent sentiment analysis, etc.
- ssivark 6y agoBut they (almost) are! They just have a more involved review process, requiring sign offs from many more people (from a diverse group of representative stakeholders) given what’s at stake. A lot of the process/bureaucracy comes from the scale & scope of what’s being managed.
- jtvjan 6y agoDisappointed that they weren't backdated.
- mishraprince 6y agoBy backdated, do you mean correct dates for the commits? I'll add that in one of the subsequent commits: both corrected dates and authors.
- jtvjan 6y agoYeah, that, using the --date parameter on git-commit.
- frob 6y agoI always love these sort of things. Here's the same for the US constitution: https://github.com/JesseKPhillips/USA-Constitution https://github.com/JesseKPhillips/USA-Constitution As a bonus, this one attempted to backdate the commits in a cyphered way (git dates are unix timestamps so the author needed to get clever to do anything before t=0 in 1970).
- mishraprince 6y agoI did think about having correct dates and authors, but then I got lazy and in fact got more focussed on getting all the amendments in place. Now that the core work is done, I'll add corrected dates (perhaps real date + 100 years), authors and committers in one of the later commits. Thanks for reminding!
- ardy42 6y ago> I did think about having correct dates and authors, but then I got lazy and in fact got more focussed on getting all the amendments in place. Now that the core work is done, I'll add corrected dates (perhaps real date + 100 years), authors and committers in one of the later commits. Thanks for reminding! How would you even do authorship? These amendments are basically institutional works, with sometimes convoluted histories (e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-seventh_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-seventh_Amendment_to_th...).
- saghm 6y agoGP is the person who submitted this story, so I assume they're talking about the Indian Constitution, not the US one. It's possible that their legal system attributes authorship more directly than the US does.
- smlckz 6y agoIt should not be hard to do the same to this one, given that the constitution of india came into effect on 26th january 1950.
- 6y ago
- throwaway20-20 6y agoThis is very cool. Diff for 42nd Ammendment which was used to impose emergency https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/commit/5e6a4c6617acd955a93839e6d6bb0e7052f5cae8#diff-b64c67a6dc1ba74a8bea24c25b8d8b8bbf760ca5ec2f9488856f425924f34f6b https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/c...
- mishraprince 6y agoEspecially look at the restrictions on courts!
- Noumenon72 6y agoI did Ctrl+F for "speech" and "press" and did not find anything in https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/commit/5e6a4c6617acd955a93839e6d6bb0e7052f5cae8#diff-b64c67a6dc1ba74a8bea24c25b8d8b8bbf760ca5ec2f9488856f425924f34f6b https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/c...
- mishraprince 6y agooh, I meant "courts" not press. Let me correct the comment. I was especially referring to https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/commit/5e6a4c6617acd955a93839e6d6bb0e7052f5cae8#diff-1010379880bfb848bc72ea3d6232f3e66fef99a8fe63824313591a8a5f733469 https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/c... This amendment to Article 368 essentially gave the legislature unrestricted power to amend the constitution without fear of a judicial review.
- eevilspock 6y agoThere is no judicial review for amendments to the US constitution either. In the US the job of the courts are to interpret and apply the constitution. It's not their role to write it or constrain the writing of it.
- 6y ago
- wtmt 6y agoGreat effort! I wish the files were named as Part01.txt, Part02.txt and so on to suit the default string sorting used by GitHub. The list on GitHub has Part1.txt, Part10.txt...Part19.txt, Part2.txt, and so on, which makes it a bit cumbersome to browse on that site.
- mishraprince 6y agoYeah, now that you pointed out, it does look ugly. I created an issue: https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/issues/3 https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/i... to track this one. I anyway plan to rewrite all commits with corrected time and author info; will be a good time to rename files as well.
- sb057 6y agoIndia's constitution is the largest national constitution in the world, and second-largest overall, only behind Alabama's, which has a whopping 951 amendments and nearly 400,000 words as of January 2021.
- dvdbloc 6y agoWho would’ve thought that Alabama would be home to Big Gov.
- ABeeSea 6y agoIt’s because it was written to oppress minorities in as many ways as possible. > At the beginning of the 20th century, the President of the Alabama Constitutional Convention, John B. Knox,[12] stated in his inaugural address that the intention of the convention was "to establish white supremacy in this State", "within the limits imposed by the Federal Constitution"[7] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Alabama#Racial_discrimination https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Alabama#Raci...
- rtx 6y agoImagine all those smart people doing something else.
- szatkus 6y agoIf it's the case shouldn't it be much simpler today?
- ABeeSea 6y agoAlabama never updated parts of their constitution to remove it as they kept losing federal court cases. It just became unenforceable. For example their constitution still contains language for school segregation and removing voting rights for interracial marriages. Even when they did make updates. It was in the form of amendments which increase the overall length. Eg, the amendment that lets women vote.
- kissgyorgy 6y agoHere is a repo for Hungarian laws: https://github.com/badicsalex/torvenyek https://github.com/badicsalex/torvenyek The dates are accurate.
- sorokod 6y agoIs the official version in English? Are there authorised translations to other languages spoken in the sub continent?
- smlckz 6y agoOnly ''authoritative'' translation into Hindi but not for any other language from English. See 58th amendment of 1987. You may find unofficial translations though.
- fellellor 6y agohttp://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india http://legislative.gov.in/constitution-of-india Here you go friend.
- mishraprince 6y agoYes, the original constitution was drafted in English and the full official text of the Constitution in English, available here: https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/constitution-india-full-text https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/co... However, Amendment 58 (https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/commit/d4dcf7c288a73c0c5697aaba51d3f93372a3e2ae https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/c...) made sure Hindi translations exist Hindi version here: https://www.india.gov.in/hi/my-government/constitution-india/constitution-india-full-text https://www.india.gov.in/hi/my-government/constitution-india... I am not sure about authoritative versions in any other language.
- fareesh 6y agoI would like to file a pull request, remove socialism and reinstate our original freedom of speech. Unrealistic, but one can dream.
- jeffrallen 6y agoIf I file a PR on it and more than half a billion Indians give it a thumbs up, does it get merged? Talk about e-voting!
- manquer 6y agoDirect democracy has its problems. 50.01% voting can cause serious issues. But using tech to improve speed of policy should be a thing
- clintonb 6y ago> But using tech to improve speed of policy should be a thing I’m going to push back against this. What problem are you actually solving that requires technology? Some would argue policy making should be purposefully slow and intentional to better understand the effects of said policy.
- manquer 6y agoThe cost of governance is enormous, there is no need to make it even more complex than it is. There are plenty of places that have really benefited from adopting technology solutions to governance problems effectively. The transparency in processes and policy can really strengthen democracy. It is especially critical in developing economies who cannot afford non tech solutions India itself for example has pretty robust electronic voting system for the last two decades, and is able to run it pretty securely and effectively. The cost of an election would vastlymore and be more difficult to administer without e-voting. Not mention the opportunity for localized corruption paper voting presents. The ability to know proposed laws and regulations before and after they are passed, or ability to file your taxes easily all be of immense benefit any community. This isn't to say that there no challenges with tech there are plenty, however the response should not be luddite and shun all of it in policy making.
- sandGorgon 6y agoThis is brilliant. Thank you for doing this. Where are you sourcing the original text from ?
- mishraprince 6y agoTill 96th amendment, I used the work done by https://github.com/captn3m0/constitution https://github.com/captn3m0/constitution and https://github.com/anoopdixith/TheConstitutionOfIndia/ https://github.com/anoopdixith/TheConstitutionOfIndia/ 96 onwards, I downloaded the gazette notifications and applied the changes manually. I could not find any automated way. I'll file an RTI one of these days to the Legal Department to source the Constitution as is, after every amendment. Let's see where that goes.
- fellellor 6y agohttps://www.india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/constitution-india-full-text https://www.india.gov.in/my-government/constitution-india/co... Pretty sure, I’ve seen it in plaintext as well on one of the government websites. I don’t remember where right now though.
- kepler1 6y agoWhen you've got 104 amendments to a constitution that are the governing high level principles of a state, you know you've done something wrong.
- walshemj 6y agoNot really constitutions are living documents that have existed for a long time -hundreds of years for older countries like th US and UK. Why would you not expect a lot of changes
- kepler1 6y agoA constitution is the high level document that your citizens agree are the foundational principles governing the state. They are a set of general points that nearly everyone can understand at that level and agree to. They are not the minutiae and laws that govern in detail. 104 is too many principles, or at the wrong level of detail, to be at the level of a constitution for people to discuss in concept and agree to as general participants in a society.
- walshemj 6y agoNot all countries are the same as the USA
- kepler1 6y agoYeah, I guess if you like ethnic/religious division and a country full of chaos.
- davchana 6y agoAs time passes, new things come, new challenges. For example, computer fraud, health practices, research, nuclear weapons. Each of the new law passed to address any of something like this, is known as amendment. At the same time, any changes are also known as amendments.
- 6y ago
- peter_d_sherman 6y agohttps://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/blob/master/PART16.txt https://github.com/prince-mishra/the-constitution-of-india/b... >"338B. (1) There shall be a Commission for the socially and educationally backward classes to be known as the National Commission for Backward Classes." [...] "(5) It shall be the duty of the Commission— (a) to investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the socially and educationally backward classes under this Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards; (b) to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the socially and educationally backward classes; (c) to participate and advise on the socio-economic development of the socially and educationally backward classes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State; (d) to present to the President, annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports upon the working of those safeguards; (e) to make in such reports the recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for the effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the socially and educationally backward classes; and (f) to discharge such other functions in relation to the protection, welfare and development and advancement of the socially and educationally backward classes as the President may, subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, by rule specify. [...] "(9) The Union and every State Government shall consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting the socially and educationally backward classes." [...] "340. Appointment of a Commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes.—(1) The President may by order appoint a Commission consisting of such persons as he thinks fit to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes within the territory of India and the difficulties under which they labour and to make recommendations as to the steps that should be taken by the Union or any State to remove such difficulties and to improve their condition and as to the grants that should be made for the purpose by the Union or any State and the conditions subject to which such grants should be made, and the order appointing such Commission shall define the procedure to be followed by the Commission." [...] 342A. (1) The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the socially and educationally backward classes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be socially and educationally backward classes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be. (2) Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the Central List of socially and educationally backward classes specified in a notification issued under clause (1) any socially and educationally backward class, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification" === PDS: I sure as hell hope that we Americans will never be considered a "socially and educationally backward class" by India! <g> And I sure as hell hope that the citizens of other countries -- will never be considered a "socially and educationally backward class" -- by India as well! <g> I mean, take India's historical relationship with Pakistan, for example... My question to the Writers of The Indian Constitution: Are the citizens of Pakistan -- also a "socially and educationally backward class" ? ? Because, I sure as hell hope not! <g> By the way, here's a quick quote from (our American) Declaration Of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal , that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..." Also, from our American Constitution (The "Equal Protection Clause"): "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." See, our laws here in the U.S. are much simpler -- basically everybody is equal before the eyes of the Law...
- etaioinshrdlu 6y agoIs there something like this for the entire US Code? Laws in the US are often written to say something like "Amend Section X to say Y.", and it's very hard to follow.
- wolrah 6y agoI have daydreamed about the same many times and considered trying to start it myself, but it didn't take too long before realizing that the reason I'd want it is the same reason I wouldn't stand a chance at building it. It would certainly be a wonderful resource though. Especially if it could be implemented with a "code review" style interface for showing the votes on each of the bills representing a commit.
- mishraprince 6y agoThere is a repo for the USA-Constitution: https://github.com/JesseKPhillips/USA-Constitution https://github.com/JesseKPhillips/USA-Constitution I am not sure if there are any for the states.
- walshemj 6y agoYou then also need to work out the ramifications of the change. Eg if motion 39 amend section y to x - Therefore 9.3(iii) is removed and renumber section 9.3, these are the Consequentials and should also be included.
- jcranmer 6y agoActually, section numbers tend to be very stable. Thus you can get 45 USC §231n-1, which is not the same thing as 45 USC §231n, 45 USC §231(n), or 45 USC §231(n)(1) (which does not exist, incidentally).
- vletal 6y agoThis is how we should maintain and pass laws. To see which legislator proposed / amended which paragraph etc. Might be interesting to see the authors of the tax law etc.
- walshemj 6y agoThis data must exist as this is how parliamentary systems work and (MP's Senators, Congress Persons) should in theory have this data. Might be very good to allow civilians to look at the data but it does require that you really understand your particular country does things. Having said that the Executive can "Get away with Naughty Shit" and that's a quote from one on the MP's that lost out to John Bercow for speaker of the HOC.
- mishraprince 6y agoYep, that is the long term agenda of the project. Most (all?) amendments have certain socio-economic/political context which gets lost over time. Amendments (and laws in-general) are better understood when the context is well laid-out. I'll add all such contexts to all these amendments, including who tabled the bill, how did the debates go, were there any following judicial reviews: all that data.
- jackfoxy 6y agoEvery general election adds at least a few new amendments to the California constitution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_California#Amendments_and_revisions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_California#Ame... I could not easily find the comprehensive list. It has to be well over 100. This page, for instance, is only amendments with their own Wikipedia page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Amendments_to_the_Constitution_of_California https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Amendments_to_the_Con...
- incanus77 6y agoReminds me of a thing someone put together when I was Mapbox where we had each US state, in order, as a commit alongside their (IIRC) GeoJSON shape as a way of progressing through the growth of the country.
- wheybags 6y agoThis makes me want to do ours (Ireland). We had a big referendum on an amendment a while ago, and I actually read it at last. There's some pretty dated stuff in there (the special place of the woman in the home stands out in my memory).
- proxygeek 6y agoEasily the best project I've seen over last coupler of days. Will definitely follow and may be contribute, if i can
- known 6y agohttps://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/India_2014 https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/India_2014 FTW