Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 14
CONSTITUTION :
IT’S NATURE &
FUNCTION ZAIDE & ZAIDE (1966)
• He defines the constitution as the whole body of fundamental
rules, written or unwritten, legal or extra-legal, according to which a particular government operates. It is therefore, the fundamental law on which the government of a country is organized and prescribing the manner by which the powers of the government are to be exercised. DE LEON (2003)
• It is an instrument by which the fundamental powers of
the government are established, limited and defined for the safe and useful exercise of these powers for the benefit of the people. DANNUG & CAMPANILLA (2004)
• Constitution is the fundamental law of the state, upon which a
government is organized and provides the framework for the organization of government. The constitution organizes the government by -- distributing, regulating, and limiting it's legislative, judicial, and executive powers, guaranteeing and safeguarding the basic rights and freedoms of the people; stipulating the manner by which sovereign powers can be exercised. • The definitions cited are similar in two respects. They all consider the constitutions as a fundamental or supreme law of the land. Two implication can be drawn from the foregoing concept of the constitution • Another point of convergence among the various definitions cited is on the function or purpose served by a constitution. From these definitions can be inferred the following functions of the supreme or fundamental law of the land: ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BASIC FRAMEWORK OF GOVERNMENT • The constitution identifies and regulates the specific powers and functions of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government. There is a need to regulate the government's exercise of its sovereign powers to preclude it from becoming despotic, oppressive and tyrannical. REGULATION OF THE RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS ENJOYED BY THE INDIVIDUAL FOR THE COMMON GOOD
• This is a very important function served by a
constitution. If people's exercise of their liberties is not regulated, there shall be chaos, anarchy and public disorder. PROTECTION OF THE PEOPLE FROM GOVERNMENT ABUSES
• Our constitution, for instance, protects the
people from possible abuses by the government through the following means: • By ensuring that each branch of government exercise only the powers conferred to it by the constitution; • 2. By prohibiting the government from exercising powers infringing the declaration of principles and state policies; and • 3. By specifying the basic rights of the people, which the government has to respect and safeguard. KINDS OF CONSTITUTION
• Enacted or Conventional - a constitution is drafted and
passed by a constituent assembly or granted by a sovereign to the people. • Evolved or Cumulative - a constitution which is the product of a long history usage by customs, traditions and judicial decisions rather than by formal or deliberate of enactment. KINDS OF CONSTITUTION
• Written - a constitution either granted by a ruler, or
enacted by the legislature, or framed by a constituent body and ratified by the people. • Unwritten -a constitution that consists of customs, usages, legal traditions, statutory legislations and is entirely the product of political growth and development. KINDS OF CONSTITUTION
• Rigid or Inelastic -- a constitution that is difficulty to
change or alter except by some special machinery more cumbrous than the ordinary legislative process. • Flexible or Elastic - a constitution that is easy to amend as it can be altered in the same way as other laws. • On the basis of the foregoing classifications of the constitution, it can be said that Philippine constitution, then and now, is enacted. It is enacted as it was drafted by a constituent assembly. Aside from being enacted, it is also written because it has a definite written form. Moreover, it is also rigid, as it cannot be modified except through the procedures stipulated in the constitution.