What should constitutions contain

Up to 2 additional members may be co-opted onto the committee at the discretion of the committee. In the event of an officer standing down during the year a replacement will be elected by the next General Meeting of members. Any committee member not attending a meeting without apology for three months will be contacted by the committee and asked if they wish to resign.

The Committee meetings will be open to any member of Wild about Brighton Youth Group wishing to attend, who may speak but not vote. All members will be notified in writing at least 3 weeks before the date of the meeting, giving the venue, date and time.

Nominations for the committee may be made to the Secretary before the meeting, or at the meeting. The Secretary will call a Special General Meeting at the request of the majority of the committee or at least eight other members giving a written request to the Chair or Secretary stating the reason for their request. All members will be given two weeks notice of such a meeting, giving the venue, date, time and agenda, and notice may be by telephone, email or post.

General Meetings are open to all members and will be held at least once every 3 months or more often if necessary. Committee meetings may be called by the Chair or Secretary. Committee members must receive notice of meetings at least 7 days before the meeting. All questions that arise at any meeting will be discussed openly and the meeting will seek to find general agreement that everyone present can agree to. If a consensus cannot be reached a vote will be taken and a decision will be made by a simple majority of members present.

If the number of votes cast on each side is equal, the chair of the meeting shall have an additional casting vote. An account will be maintained on behalf of the Association at a bank agreed by the committee. Three cheque signatories will be nominated by the Committee one to be the Treasurer. The signatories must not be related nor members of the same household.

Records of income and expenditure will be maintained by the Treasurer and a financial statement given at each meeting. All money raised by or on behalf of Wild about Brighton Youth Group is only to be used to further the aims of the group, as specified in item 2 of this constitution.

Any proposal to amend the constitution must be given to the Secretary in writing. The proposal must then be circulated with the notice of meeting.

Any proposal to amend the constitution will require a two thirds majority of those present and entitled to vote. If a meeting, by simple majority, decides that it is necessary to close down the group it may call a Special General Meeting to do so. The sole business of this meeting will be to dissolve the group. If it is agreed to dissolve the group, all remaining money and other assets, once outstanding debts have been paid, will be donated to a local charitable organisation.

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Waitrose Community Matters. Favourite Funders for existing activities and running costs. Allen Lane Foundation. Brighton District Nursing Association Trust. Clarity Environmental. Edge Fund. Hedgcock Bequest. Lush Charity Pot. In the UK, for example, laws which modify the constitution are passed on a simple majority in Parliament. The concept of "amendment" does not apply, as the procedure for modifying the constitution are the same as any other national law.

Generally speaking all provisions in a constitution should be binding. If however, there is a need for flexibility in provisions, the constitution should provide a time schedule for when the specific provisions will be enforced and implemented and who is responsible.

If the state has not implemented the provisions according to the timetable, the constitutional court of the country can use its capacity to implement the provision. In most instances it is in fact the constitutional court that has the mandate and authority to enforce constitutional provisions.

Most constitutional courts are also supplemented by other non-judicial bodies, such as an ombudsman, that also has enforcement powers and operates as a link between government bodies and citizens. Civil society, although legally lacking enforcement powers, may also serve as an authority that oversees compliance with the constitution. A constitution should always be tailored to suit the specific environment of its implementation by taking into consideration unique national factors such as culture, history, ethnic composition.

However, it is not uncommon for constitutional drafters to be inspired by constitutions from countries with similar conditions and factors. In that sense comparative constitutionalism serves an important function by helping experts and others involved in constitutional drafting draw knowledge from history. It is of course difficult to provide a general answer as to what extent it is appropriate to be influenced by other legal systems when drafting a new constitution — this is something that each nation needs to decide for itself.

A public referendum is a vote cast directly by the public for or against a political proposal. By nature it is a procedure that directly supports popular participation and increases the legitimacy of the outcome, in this case, whether the political document is ultimately adopted or not.

This benefit is one that cannot be overstressed. Nonetheless, there are particular difficulties surrounding holding a public referendum to decide the adoption of a new constitution. First, in countries where illiteracy is common, it is hard to judge whether the people are fully aware of what they are voting for in the constitution.

When exposing such an important and fundamental document for public voting those in charge need to be confident that the electorate is in fact knowledgeable about the document in question and how it will affect their lives. Organizing and arranging a referendum is also costly and requires institutional capacity, both of which may be lacking in less developed nations.

A common alternative to holding a referendum is to include the public in the initial phases of the constitution-making process. For example, the public can be encouraged to make submissions to the Constituent Assembly, who will then cast the final vote for or against the document.

However, in a country where there is no rule of law and where corruption is a prominent feature, this strategy runs the risk of encouraging vote buying in connection to referendums. In this situation, having a public referendum would actually serve as a safeguard against corruption as it is much more difficult to manipulate the entire electorate than select members of a Constituent Assembly.

It is essential, especially in a country with no constitutional history, to extend civic education. Civic education programs should aim to convey basic notions of what a constitutional democracy entails, such as the meaning of democracy, the role, responsibility and rights of citizens, good governance, democratic principles and procedures, democratic institutions and the rule of law.

Civic education programs may also be an appropriate method through which people can become familiar with their participatory skills so that they may enjoy and make use of their constitutional rights.

Most nations today do in fact have a bill of rights incorporated in their constitutions. The primary function of a bill of rights is to protect fundamental rights of the citizens against violations from the government. As such, a bill of rights can be a legal safe-guard against future atrocities, especially for countries that have just emerged from violent conflicts. Applying aspirational language in a constitution does not necessarily imply that what is actually being stated contradicts existing cultural norms in a society.

Using aspirational language in the preamble, for example, can actually have a unifying affect on a nation, especially one emerging from civil conflict. Because the preamble holds symbolic value, the incorporation of visionary, forward-looking language can help to bring former adversaries closer together. A constitution can distinguish amongst its provisions, making some of them superior to others in the sense that they will remain unalterable.

Another way of distinguishing between provisions is to utilize different processes when attempting to amend them. Approving certain clauses might require approval by a qualified majority of the legislative assembly, others by an absolute majority and yet others might require a public referendum for amendment.

In post-conflict settings — where new constitutions may have just been drafted and implemented — another idea may be to, in a so-called sunset clause, introduce a fixed period of time during which no constitutional amendments can be made. Whether a constitution should be amended and what the process of amending should be depends largely on the context in which the constitution was initially drafted and implemented.

If the constitution is part of a peace agreement, it might include paragraphs and provisions that serve to address issues directly related to the conflict. These constitutions should anticipate that amendments will be needed as time passes and grievances reconciled.

If the constitution cannot be amended, there is considerable risk that the unchanging constitution will cement society and its members in the mindset that prevailed during the conflict, which can ultimately hinder society from moving past the conflict. Generally, there are valid reasons why a constitution should not be very easily amended.

It is not desirable, nor advisable, to have a constitution amended each time a country changes governments as frequent amending can bring uncertainty and instability to society. Political rules and procedures as well as social, economical and cultural rights, as are often embodied in constitutions, need to remain constant in order for those in power to remain legitimate in the eyes of its citizens.

One way to gauge public support for a new constitution is by utilizing research projects such as the Afrobarometer and Asian Barometer to canvass public opinion regarding various provisions or even the constitution in its entirety. Another strategy might entail holding a public referendum. Overall, allowing citizens to react to the new constitution demonstrates their preferences, which in turn guides drafters in crafting a better document.

Oftentimes the circumstances surrounding the drafting of the constitution will determine the level of national and international involvement. If an inclusive and participatory constitution- making process is sought after, it is advisable to create a proper balance between the participation and inputs provided by citizens and those by national experts, such as constitutional lawyers.

One such balance is to have experts serve as advisors and allow citizens to determine the content of the constitution. International involvement during the drafting process may also be desired if, for instance, there is a shortage of national lawyers. In these circumstances, foreign expertise is a necessary consequence of the situation. In post-conflict situations, there may also be a lack of capable local institutions, making it difficult for a new constitution to be crafted withoutoutside involvement.

International involvement is however a difficult matter as it may jeopardize the legitimacy of the final document. Nevertheless, there are various forms of international participation, and some might be considered more legitimate than others. For instance, international actors may provide logistical help financial, technical assistance, etc. International actors can also choose to assist marginalized groups in having voices heard or enable local leaders to design the procedures for constitution drafting rather than imposing their own ideas and terms on the national population.

History has taught us that it is often better to keep peace agreements and constitutional deliberations separate. Examples, such as the post-conflict constitution building process in Bosnia-Herzegovina in which the constitution actually formed a part of the peace settlement, illustrate that peace agreements can negatively affect the conditions and provisions of the subsequent post-conflict constitution.

There are many reasons to avoid having a peace agreement influence the content of the constitution. Often the peace agreement contains short term goals, such as bringing an immediate halt to hostilities, whereas a constitution should ideally hold long-term goals and principles for the nation. However, despite the downsides, it is necessary to consider the peace agreement in the constitution drafting process in order to prevent hostile parties from resuming conflict.

In recent times, it is generally accepted that public participation in the drafting stage of the constitution should be encouraged and sought after. Logistical matters, the time frame for the drafting period and the specific financial issues of a country will have consequences on the possibility and extent of public participation.

Public participation may be considered one of the key ingredients in ensuring public acceptance of the final document. Moreover, besides being an exercise in democratic empowerment, public participation provides drafters with input concerning the values and the needs of the population that can be helpful in the constitution-making process.

Despite the benefits, public participation can bring about problems if not dealt with properly. Each group will likely differ in their opinion of what should be in the constitution. This means no one can interfere in the work of the Constitutional Court and the other courts in the country.

In practice this means each arm of the state keeps watch over the power of the others. The courts can judge the actions of the legislature and the executive but cannot pass laws. The legislature can make laws but cannot hand down judgments or take executive action. It's not easy to keep these in balance. Often the challenge is to ensure that the executive does not wield its authority without being contained by the other branches.

South Africa's Constitution, for example, describes how the government is formed, how it is elected and how it functions. It outlines the government's powers - as well as the limits to these powers - and entrenches the rights of the people.

It also sets out how the government will be accountable to the people who elect it. The Constitution guarantees democracy by giving every person over 18 the right to vote and ensuring one voters' roll for all adult citizens, regular elections and a multi-party system of government. It says parliamentary elections must be held once every five years. It explains how parliament and other legislatures work, how national and provincial executives are chosen and how the courts work. The Constitution also establishes six independent state institutions to support our democracy.

The Constitution also defines the features of South Africa's sovereignty - its national territory, citizenship and national symbols. From this it is clear that our Constitution forms the basis of public life in South Africa. But it does more than just describing the nuts-and-bolts of the functioning of the state. Our Constitution also reflects the hopes and aspirations of a nation torn apart by apartheid.

And this leads us to the question of what makes a constitution unique. A constitution like ours may, at first glance, look just like any other Act passed by the legislature.

But it is not an Act of Parliament: it was passed by a special body called the Constitutional Assembly. Constitutions are unique - for many reasons.

Most constitutions emerge out of special circumstances. Sometimes, as in the case of South Africa, they are a product of turmoil, upheaval and even revolution. It's no surprise that the quest for democracy, self-determination and human rights forms the backdrop to many modern African constitutions. And, given South Africa's past, it's not surprising that our Constitution frequently stresses the need to create a society that is "open and democratic", and that it emphasises dignity, justice and equality.

Linked to the question of origins is one of ideals. A look at the first page of the document reveals that the language used in our Constitution is at times quite emotive - not the dry legal jargon you find in Acts of Parliament.

It's not surprising: the writers of our Constitution were emotionally invested in the process. They were dealing with the hopes of a nation being reborn - but also had to keep one eye on the very real fears created by the decades of despair that had led the country to this juncture. There's a good example in the preamble: "We, the people of South Africa, recognise the injustices of our past; honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land; respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.