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This generally applies to executive documents. I fail to see how the same could apply to a constitution. (E.g., one might imagine a secret section that nullifie
by masswerk 3y ago
This generally applies to executive documents. I fail to see how the same could apply to a constitution. (E.g., one might imagine a secret section that nullifies the publicly visible constitution in its entirety and substitutes it by a secret one. What would be the base of government and law?)
- bell-cot 3y agoWhy can't it apply to a constitution? Actual government is in the minds and actions of the people; it is not some "you are never allowed to skip a step" mathematical proof that gets printed in a research journal. There are nations with constitutions which are not merely unprinted, but unwritten. And plenty of nations (the U.S. included) which simply ignore clearly-printed parts of their own constitutions, when they find it convenient to do so.
- masswerk 3y agoIn positive law, it's literally "nothing exists outside the constitution". So, if the constitution is an unknown quantity, there is no rule of law. Now, if there is a constitution, but it is not to be known, it may be a positive system or not – either way, you can't tell… Also, considering the case of a secret substitution: You're appealing to the supreme court, referring to the publicly known constitution, but your case is dismissed based on the notion that your appeal refers to an invalidated section, but you're not allowed to know, what the actual, valid section is. This is Kafka at his best.