CONSTITUTIONAL

LAW OF
BANGLADESH-1
An Introduction
 Constitutionalism
◦ According to the Stanford Encyclopedia, in narrower sense, a constitution consists of a set of norms
(rules, principles or values) creating, structuring, and possibly defining the limits of, government power
or authority.
◦ Every state must have some means of constituting and specifying the limits (or lack thereof) placed upon
the three basic forms of government power: legislative power (making new laws), executive power
(implementing laws) and judicial power (adjudicating disputes under laws).
◦ A comparison is often drawn between Thomas Hobbes and John Locke who are thought to have
defended, respectively, the notion of constitutionally unlimited sovereignty versus that of sovereignty
limited by the terms of a social contract containing substantive limitations.

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/constitutionalism/
 Constitutionalism
◦ Constitutionalism is a doctrine that a government’s authority is determined by a body of laws or
constitution. Although constitutionalism is sometimes regarded as a synonym for limited government,
that is only one interpretation and by no means the most prominent one historically. More generally
constitutionalism refers to efforts to prevent arbitrary government.

https://www.britannica.com/topic/constitutionalism
 Types of Constitutions
◦ On the basis of democracy, constitutions are two types:
1. Republican Constitutions
2. Monarchical Constitutions

https://www.lawteacher.net/free-law-essays/constitutional-law/different-types-of-constitutions.php
 Types of Constitutions
◦ On the basis of codification, constitutions are of two types:
1. Codified Constitutions
2. Uncodified Constitutions
 Types of Constitutions
◦ On the basis of the flexibility of amendment, there are two types of constitutions.
1. Flexible Constitutions
2. Rigid Constitutions
 Written and unwritten constitution
◦ An unwritten constitution is a type of constitution that is not contained in one single document. This type of
constitution is partially written and partly oral. Like common law and customary law, an unwritten constitution
grows from many years of practical experience and from the political way of the people.
◦ The British constitution is the best example of an unwritten constitution. It is not in one document, but can
be found in various sources, such as statutes, conventions and judicial decisions.
◦ As a result of being partly written and partly unwritten, the British Constitution relies on many practices or
conventions. That is, constitutional practices which are not legal rules, but are accepted as binding by the
British people.
◦ On the other hand, a written constitution is a type of constitution that is contained in a single document and can
be easily procured and consulted on any issue covered by it.
◦ A written constitution is usually rigid in nature because of its cumbersome mode of amendment. Although it can
actually be amended when found necessary.
Flexible and Rigid Constitution

◦ A flexible constitution is a constitution, which can be easily amended or changed without a cumbersome
procedure. This type of constitution may be amended just like any statute, with a simple majority of vote
of the members of the parliament.
◦ On the other hand, a rigid constitution is a type of constitution, which has a cumbersome or long
amendment procedures. The procedure for amending a rigid constitution is different from the procedure
for enacting and amending the ordinary ordinary laws of the land
Republican and Monarchical constitution

◦ A republican constitution is a type of constitution that provides for the position of an elected head of state
for a fixed term of office who is usually known as President.
◦ To understand a Monarchical constitution, you must understand that a monarchy is a government lead by
a King, Queen, or Emperor.
◦ A Monarchical constitution is actually a dynasty where the monarch is succeeded by his or her child or
other heir from generation to generation or from one ruling house to another.
 Presidential and parliamentary constitution

◦ A presidential constitution is a type of constitution where all executive powers are vested in a president
who is the head of state and head of government. The president may exercise the executive powers of
government either directly by himself or through the vice president, minister or other officers in the
public service of the country.
◦ The powers of the president is to maintain the constitution and to apply all the laws made by the
parliament for the time being in force.
◦ On the other hand, a parliamentary constitution is a type of constitution where all the executive powers
of the government are vested in a Prime Minister, who is the head of government and the head of the
majority party, but is not the head of state.