CONSTITUTIONALISM AND IT EFFECT

Constitution has been defined by many legal expert and authorities in the legal parlance, according to professor BEN NWABUEZE, he said the constitution is a mode of organizing a state and the government, also in the case of ATTORNEY GENERAL OF ONDO STATE V ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE FEDERATION AND ORS, (2002) 9 NWLR cpt)222, the court defined the constitution as an organic instrument that confer powers and also creates rights and limitations.
Constitutionalism and constitutionality are both concepts of the constitution. Constitutionalism can be said to be a political arrangement where there is the rule of law, it goes beyond the letters but the spirit of the constitution, while constitutionality is the opposite it only deals with the documentation of the constitution, it just the letters and nothing more.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSTITUTIONALISM

1. GOOD GOVERNACE

2. RULE OF LAW

3. SUPREMACY OF THE LAW

4. PRINCIPLE OF SEPARATION OF POWER

5. CHECKS AND BALANCES

6. FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT

INDICES OF CONSTITUTIONALISM AND GOOD GOVERNANCE

1. PARTICIPATION-Every citizen should have a voice in decision making of government, either directly or through legitimate representative democratic institutions.

2. RESPONSIVENESS-A responsive and responsible government must be instituted.

3. EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT-Institutions that meet the needs of the people.

4. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY-there should be free flow of information.

5. EQUITY AND EQUALITY-all men and women should have equal opportunities.

6. RULE OF LAW-Legal frame should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human right.

If you find yourself in a state or country where all these features are not in existence, then what is in practice is constitutionality. DEAN ROSCOE POUND a major proponent of the sociological school of thought, defines the law as social engineering, it implies that laws should be made to create maximum satisfaction with minimum friction. Any law made should be practicable in the society, the laws are made for the people and the people are made for the law. We came into existence for a purpose, the law can never be recognized without the people and the people will be barbaric and ruthless without the law. Any country or state that make laws that lacks impact in the society is practicing constitutionality, constitutionalism is the word and that is what every law should connote.

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