Comparative Constitutional Law Notes | LL.M. Semester 2 | Mumbai University | munotes

Contents

Module I

1. How to Read This Book, and How to Read Seven Constitutions 1
2. What a Constitution Is, and What It Is For 6
3. Constitutionalism 11
4. Limited Government and the Devices That Limit It 16
5. The Rule of Law 20
6. Separation of Powers 25
7. A Constitution Without Constitutionalism 29
8. Written and Unwritten, Codified and Uncodified 34
9. Rigid and Flexible Constitutions 39
10. Federal and Unitary Constitutions 44
11. Republican and Monarchical, Evolved and Enacted 49
12. Wheare's Classification and Its Critics 54
13. Where MU's Seven Constitutions Fall 59
14. Entrenchment, Supremacy and Judicial Review 63
15. What a Constitutional Convention Is 68
16. Dicey: the Law and the Conventions of the Constitution 72
17. Jennings's Three-Part Test 76
18. Why Conventions Are Obeyed 80
19. Conventions and Law Distinguished 84
20. The Conventions of the United Kingdom 88
21. The Conventions of the Indian Constitution 93
22. The Conventions of the United States Constitution 98
23. Canada, and a Court Asked to Find a Convention 102
24. Writing Conventions Down 106
25. Enforcing a Convention, and Breaking One 110
26. Conventions That Have Hardened Into Law 114
27. The Parliamentary Executive 118
28. Collective and Individual Responsibility 122
29. The Presidential Executive 126
30. Fixed Terms, Impeachment and the Separation of Personnel 131
31. The Westminster Model 136
32. The American Model: Checks and Balances 140
33. The Swiss Collegial Executive 144
34. The German Chancellor and the Constructive Vote of No Confidence 148
35. The Semi-Presidential Model 152
36. Confidence, Dissolution and the Life of a Government 156
37. How a Bill Passes in Each System 160
38. Deadlock, and How Each System Breaks It 165
39. A Presidential System for India? 169
40. Coalitions, Minority Government and Defection 173

Module II

1. Seven Constitutions and Their Dates 177
2. The Constitution of India in Outline 182
3. The Constitution of the United States in Outline 188
4. The Constitution of the United Kingdom in Outline 194
5. The Federal Constitution of Switzerland in Outline 199
6. The Constitution of Ireland in Outline 205
7. The Basic Law of Germany in Outline 211
8. The Constitution of Canada in Outline 216
9. Preambles Compared 223
10. What India Borrowed, and From Where 228
11. Length and Form 233
12. Constitutional Supremacy and Parliamentary Sovereignty 237
13. Bills of Rights Compared 241
14. Directive Principles: Ireland and India 245
15. The Head of State Compared 250
16. Legislatures and Second Chambers 254
17. Judiciaries and Judicial Review Compared 258
18. Citizenship: Single and Dual 262
19. Emergency Powers Compared 266
20. Language and Religion in a Plural State 271
21. The Seven on One Table 276
22. What Federalism Is 280
23. Coming Together and Holding Together 284
24. The Distribution of Legislative Power 289
25. Residuary Power 293
26. Supremacy, Repugnancy and the Occupied Field 297
27. Pith and Substance 301
28. Co-operative Federalism and Federal Comity 305
29. Fiscal Federalism and Equalisation 309
30. Second Chambers as Federal Chambers 314
31. Executive Federalism 318
32. Emergency, Intervention and the Federal Principle 323
33. Asymmetric Federalism 328
34. Secession 332
35. Ireland: a Unitary State With Local Government Guaranteed 337
36. Umpiring the Federation 341
37. Quasi-Federal: the Argument About India 346
38. Trade and Commerce Across Internal Borders 350
39. The Third Tier 356

Module III

1. Why a Constitution Provides for Its Own Amendment 361
2. Rigidity and Flexibility, Measured 365
3. Article V of the United States Constitution 369
4. The Convention Route 373
5. Ratification and Its Deadlines 377
6. Article 368 and Its Three Routes 381
7. The Basic Structure Doctrine 385
8. Amending Fundamental Rights: the Indian Line 390
9. Swiss Total and Partial Revision 395
10. The Popular Initiative and the Double Majority 399
11. Mandatory and Optional Referendums 403
12. Express Limits on Amendment 407
13. How Often Each Constitution Has Been Amended 411
14. Judicial Review of a Constitutional Amendment 415
15. Where the Judiciary Sits in Each Constitution 419
16. Integrated, Dual and Cantonal Court Structures 424
17. Appointment of Judges Compared 428
18. The Indian Collegium 432
19. The Judicial Appointments Commission of the United Kingdom 437
20. Nomination and Senate Confirmation 441
21. Election of Judges in Switzerland 445
22. Tenure, Salary and Security 449
23. Removal of a Judge 453
24. Judicial Independence 458
25. Judicial Review of Legislation, and Where It Came From 462
26. Article 190: the Court That May Not Strike Down 466
27. The United Kingdom: Incompatibility, Not Invalidity 470
28. Standing and Public Interest Litigation 474
29. Advisory Jurisdiction 479
30. Judicial Activism and the Countermajoritarian Objection 485
31. Precedent, and Departing From It 490
32. Contempt, Criticism and Accountability 496

Module IV

1. What Civil Liberties Are 502
2. Negative and Positive Rights 506
3. Freedom of Speech in Three Constitutions 511
4. Reasonable Restrictions and the Categorical Approach 516
5. Prior Restraint 520
6. Sedition, Hate Speech and Offensive Speech 525
7. Religion, Establishment and the Secular State 531
8. Life and Liberty: Due Process and Procedure Established by Law 537
9. Privacy 542
10. Arrest, Detention and Habeas Corpus 547
11. Preventive Detention 552
12. The Rights of an Accused 557
13. Equality as a Civil Liberty 562
14. Property 567
15. Emergency, Derogation and Suspension 572
16. Remedies 578
17. Horizontal Effect 583
18. The Press, Broadcasting and the Internet 589
19. What Affirmative Action Is 594
20. Formal and Substantive Equality 599
21. The Constitutional Basis of Reservation in India 604
22. Who Is Backward 610
23. The Creamy Layer 616
24. The Fifty Per Cent Ceiling 621
25. Reservation in Promotion 626
26. Economically Weaker Sections 631
27. Reservation for Women 636
28. Reservation in Private and Unaided Institutions 641
29. The American Story 646
30. Strict Scrutiny and Compelling Interest 651
31. Diversity as a Justification 656
32. Quotas, Set-Asides and Narrow Tailoring 661
33. The End of Race-Conscious Admissions 666
34. The Two Systems Compared 671