Directive Principles: Ireland and India

In one line

Ireland's Article 45 states principles of social policy for the guidance of the legislature and expressly excludes the courts, and India took the idea and made it much larger.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: directive principles are constitutional statements of social and economic objectives addressed to the legislature and the executive, declared not to be enforceable by any court, which nevertheless bind the State in the sense that it is the duty of the State to apply them in making laws.

Article 45 of the Irish Constitution

The Article is headed Directive Principles of Social Policy and opens with the sentence that decides its status:

The principles of social policy set forth in this Article are intended for the general guidance of the Oireachtas. The application of those principles in the making of laws shall be the care of the Oireachtas exclusively, and shall not be cognisable by any Court under any of the provisions of this Constitution.

The principles themselves are five. That the State shall strive to promote the welfare of the whole people by securing and protecting a social order in which justice and charity shall inform all the institutions of national life. That the State shall direct its policy towards securing that citizens may find means of making reasonable provision for their domestic needs through their occupations; that the ownership and control of the material resources of the community may be so distributed as best to subserve the common good; that the operation of free competition shall not be allowed to result in the concentration of ownership or control of essential commodities in a few individuals to the common detriment; that in what pertains to the control of credit the constant and predominant aim shall be the welfare of the people as a whole; and that there may be established on the land in economic security as many families as practicable. That the State shall favour and, where necessary, supplement private initiative in industry and commerce. That the State shall endeavour to ensure that private enterprise shall be conducted so as to ensure reasonable efficiency and to protect the public against unjust exploitation. And that the State shall safeguard the economic interests of the weaker sections, protect the health of workers, ensure that children are not abused, and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity into occupations unsuited to their sex, age or strength.

Part IV of the Indian Constitution

Article 36 applies the definition of the State in article 12.

Article 37 states the status: the provisions of Part IV shall not be enforceable by any court, but the principles therein laid down are nevertheless fundamental in the governance of the country and it shall be the duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws.