consti law notes

1. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW

2. CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
• is the study of the maintenance of the proper balance between
authority as represented by the three inherent powers of the
State and liberty as guar anteed by the Bill of Rights.
• The true role of Constitutional Law is to effect an equilibrium
between authority and liberty so that rights are exercised within
the framework of the law and the laws are enacted with due
deference to rights. (Cruz)

3. CONSTITUTION
• that body of rules and maxims in accordance with which the
powers of sovereignty are habitually exercised. (Cooley)
• the written instrument enacted by direct action of the people by
which the fundamental powers of the government are established,
limited and defined, and by which those powers are distributed
among the several departments for their safe and useful exercise
for the benefit of the body politic. (Cruz)

4. Nature and Purpose
• Serves as the supreme or fundamental law of the land
• Establishes basic framework and underlying principles of
government
• Designed to protect the basic rights of the people. (De Leon)

5. Supremacy of the Constitution
• The Constitution is the basic and paramount law to which all other
laws must conform and to which all persons, including the highest
officials of the land, must defer. No act shall be valid, however
noble its intentions, if it conflicts with the Constitution. The
Constitution must ever remain supreme. All must bow to the
mandate of this law. (Cruz)

6. Kinds of Constitution
As to their origin and history:
Conventional or enacted – one which is enacted by a constituent
assembly or granted by a monarch to his subjects
Cumulative or evolved – one which is a product of growth or a long
period of development originating in customs, traditions, judicial
decisions, rather than from a deliberate and formal enactment.

7. Kinds of Constitution
As to their form:
Written – is one whose precepts are em bodied in one document or
set of documents
Unwritten - consists of rules which have not been integrated into a
single, concrete form but are scattered in various sources, such as
statutes of a fun damental character, judicial decisions,
commentaries of publicists, customs and traditions, and certain
common law principles

8. Kinds of Constitution
As to manner of amendment:
Rigid or inelastic- is one that can be amended only by a formal and
usually difficult process.
Flexible or elastic - is one that can be changed by ordinary
legislation

9. Essential Parts of the Written Constitution
• Constitution of liberty
• Constitution of government
• Constitution of sovereignty

10. Constitution of liberty
• consists of a series of prescriptions setting forth the fundamental
civil and political rights of the citi zens and imposing limitations
on the powers of govern ment as a means of securing the
enjoyment of those rights.8

11. Constitution of government
• consists of a series of provisions outlining the organization of the
government, enumerating its powers, laying down certain rules
relative to its administration and defining the electorate.

12. Constitution of sovereignty
• consists of the provisions pointing out the mode or procedure in
accordance with which formal changes in the fundamental law
may be brought about

13. Interpretation
• The constitution, like statutory enactments, should be read in
accordance with the usual rules on interpretation and
construction. Chief among these is the canon that it should be
interpreted in such a way as to give effect to the intendment of
the framers. This intention is discoverable either in the document
itself or through the use of extrinsic aids, such as the records of
the constitutional convention.

14. Constitution vs. Statute
Constitution Statute
Is a legislation direct from the people Legislation from people’s representatives
Merely states the general framework of the
law
Provides for the details of the subject of
which it treats
Is intended not merely to meet existing
conditions but to govern the future
Is intended primarily to meet existing
conditions only
Supreme or fundamental law of the land Must conform to the Constitution

15. Basic Principles Underlying the new Constitution
• Recognition of the aid of Almighty God
• Sovereignty of the people
• Renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy
• Supremacy of civilian authority over military
• Separation of church and state
• Recognition of the importance of family and vital role of youth
• Guarantee of human rights

16. Basic Principles Underlying the new Constitution
• Government through suffrage
• Separation of Powers
• Independence of the Judiciary
• Guarantee of local autonomy
• Non-suability of the State
• Rule of Majority
• Government of Laws and not Men