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In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution;^[1] the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When laws, procedures, or acts directly violate the constitution, they are unconstitutional. All others are considered constitutional unless the country in question has a mechanism for challenging laws as unconstitutional.

Applicability

An act or statute enacted as law either by a national legislature or by a subordinate-level legislature such as that of a state or province may be declared unconstitutional.

However, governments do not only create laws but also enforce the laws set forth in the document defining the government, which is the constitution.

When the proper court determines that a legislative act or law conflicts with the constitution, it finds that law unconstitutional and declares it void in whole or in part.

Depending on the type of legal system, a statute may be declared unconstitutional by any court or only by special constitutional courts with authority to rule on the validity of a statute.

In some countries, the legislature may create any law for any purpose, and there is no provision for courts to declare a law unconstitutional. That can occur either because the country has no codified constitution that laws must conform to like in the United Kingdom and New Zealand or because the constitution is codified, but no court has the authority to strike down laws on the basis of it like in the Netherlands and Switzerland.

In many jurisdictions, the supreme court or constitutional court is the final legal arbiter that renders an opinion on whether a law or an action of a government official is constitutional. Constitutions define the powers of government, Thus, national constitutions typically apply only to government actions. Only governments can then violate the nation's constitution, but there are exceptions.

Examples of unconstitutional actions

Unconstitutional actions include:

Actions by politicians outside the powers of their constitutionally-established offices
Actions on behalf of the government that prevent an individual from exercising constitutionally-protected individual rights

References

^ "Definition of CONSTITUTIONALITY". Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2009. "Webster On Line"

This article about a constitutional law topic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Definition of CONSTITUTIONALITY". Archived from the original on April 25, 2009. Retrieved May 11, 2009. "Webster On Line"

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-{{short description|Status of law as permitted by the Constitution of the State}}{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}
+{{Short description|Status of law as permitted by the Constitution of the State}}
+{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}
+{{Use American English|date=January 2019}}
 {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
-{{Refimprove|date=September 2014}}
+In [[constitutional law]], '''constitutionality''' is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable [[constitution]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutionality |title=Definition of CONSTITUTIONALITY |access-date=2009-05-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425031213/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutionality |archive-date=2009-04-25 }} "Webster On Line"</ref> the status of a law, a [[Procedural law|procedure]], or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When laws, procedures, or acts directly violate the constitution, they are '''unconstitutional'''. All others are considered constitutional unless the country in question has a mechanism for challenging laws as unconstitutional.
-{{globalize|date=July 2020}}
-'''Constitutionality''' is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable [[constitution]];<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutionality |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2009-05-11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425031213/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/constitutionality |archive-date=2009-04-25 }} "Webster On Line"</ref> the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applicable constitution. When one of these (laws, procedures, or acts) directly violates the constitution, it is '''unconstitutional'''. All the rest are considered constitutional until challenged and declared otherwise, typically by courts through [[judicial review]].
 == Applicability ==
+An act or [[statute]] enacted as [[law]] either by a national [[legislature]] or by a subordinate-level legislature such as that of a [[state (administrative division)|state]] or [[province]] may be declared unconstitutional.
+However, governments do not only create laws but also enforce the laws set forth in the document defining the government, which is the constitution.
-An act (or ''[[statute]]'') enacted as [[law]] either by a national [[legislature]] or by the legislature of a subordinate level of government (such as a [[state (administrative division)|state]] or [[province]]) may be declared '''unconstitutional'''.
+When the proper court determines that a legislative act or law conflicts with the constitution, it finds that law unconstitutional and declares it void in whole or in part.
-However, governments do not just create laws.  Governments also enforce the laws set forth in the document defining the government—in the Constitution.  In the United States, the failure to seat duly elected representatives of the people following a proper election, or the failure to provide for such elections would be unconstitutional even in the absence of any legislated laws whatsoever.
+Depending on the type of legal system, a statute may be declared unconstitutional by any court or only by special [[constitution#constitutional courts|constitutional courts]] with authority to rule on the validity of a statute.
-When the proper court determines that a legislative act (a law) conflicts with the constitution, it finds that law unconstitutional and declares it void in whole or in part. This is called [[judicial review]]. The portion of the law declared void is considered ''struck down'', or the entire statute is considered struck from the statute books. {{Disputed inline||date=March 2020}}
+In some countries, the legislature may create any law for any purpose, and there is no provision for courts to declare a law unconstitutional. That can occur either because the country has [[Uncodified constitution|no codified constitution]] that laws must conform to like in the [[United Kingdom]] and [[New Zealand]] or because the constitution is codified, but no court has the authority to strike down laws on the basis of it like in the [[Netherlands]] and [[Switzerland]].
-Depending on the type of legal system, a statute may be declared unconstitutional by any court, or only by special [[Constitution#Constitutional courts|Constitutional courts]] with authority to rule on the validity of a statute.
-In some countries, the legislature may create any law for any purpose, and there is no provision for courts to declare a law unconstitutional. This can occur either because the country has no [[Codification (law)|codified]] constitution that laws must conform to (e.g., the [[United Kingdom]] and [[New Zealand]]) or because the constitution is codified but no court has the authority to strike down laws on the basis of it (e.g., the [[Netherlands]] and [[Switzerland]]).
-In many jurisdictions, the [[supreme court]] or [[Constitutional Court|constitutional court]] is the final legal arbiter that renders an opinion on whether a law or an action of a government official is constitutional.
+In many jurisdictions, the [[supreme court]] or [[constitutional court]] is the final legal arbiter that renders an opinion on whether a law or an action of a government official is constitutional. Constitutions define the powers of government, Thus, national constitutions typically apply only to government actions. Only governments can then violate the nation's constitution, but there are exceptions.
-Most constitutions define the powers of government.  Thus, national constitutions typically apply only to government actions.  In these cases, only governments can violate the nation's constitution, but there are exceptions.
-A ''constitutional violation'' is thus somewhat different from the breaking of a normal [[law]], both in terms of seriousness and punishment.  Declaring a law unconstitutional does not result in the punishment of those who passed it down.
-The legal encyclopedia ''[[American Jurisprudence]]'' says the following in regard to constitutionality:
-<blockquote>The general rule is that an unconstitutional statute, though having the form and the name of law, is in reality no law, but is wholly void and ineffective for any purpose since unconstitutionality dates from the time of its enactment and not merely from the date of the decision so branding it; an unconstitutional law, in legal contemplation, is as inoperative as if it had never been passed ... An unconstitutional law is void. (16 Am. Jur. 2d, Sec. 178)</blockquote>
-A law in violation of an existing statute can be described as unstatutable.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/unstatutable|title=Unstatutable {{!}} Definition, meaning & more {{!}} Collins Dictionary|website=[[CollinsDictionary.com]]|access-date=2016-08-23|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160921063607/http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/unstatutable|archive-date=2016-09-21}}</ref>
 == Examples of unconstitutional actions ==
 <!--[[Unconstitutional]] and [[Unconstitutionality]] redirect here. If you rename or delete the section, please also update the redirects. -->
-An action that breaks any part of the constitution could range from minor to major. In the United Kingdom, this is more ambiguous because such breach covers those that violate principles, procedures or rights, making it difficult to establish what is unconstitutional from the constitutional. It is clearer in the case of the United States, which considers an act an infringement if it violates the spirit or the letter of the written constitution.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Understanding A/S Level Government Politics|last=Wilson|first=Christopher|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=2003|isbn=0719060818|location=Manchester|pages=177}}</ref>
+Unconstitutional actions include:
-Some examples of unconstitutional actions can be:
-* Actions by politician outside the powers of his constitutionally-established office;
+* Actions by politicians outside the powers of their constitutionally-established offices
-* Actions on behalf of the government that prevents an individual from exercising constitutionally protected individual rights (such as the right to vote or to practice religion).  ''See [[McDonald v. City of Chicago]]''
+* Actions on behalf of the government that prevent an individual from exercising constitutionally-protected individual rights
-* The suspension of habeas corpus, except in a state of emergency<ref>Wilson, p. 177.</ref>
-==Unconstitutional laws in the United States==
-Much debate often surrounds controversial laws enacted by [[State legislature (United States)|state legislatures]] and the [[United States Congress]] regarding the laws' constitutionality. Some of the controversialists against particular acts in the 19th century proposed protecting the people by applying the [[Principles of '98]]. [[Judicial review in the United States]], however, became the usual way to resolve such controversies.  Few people in the U.S. question the validity of this power and as a leading legal expert stated, "it is as clear as such matters can be that the Framers of the Constitution specifically, if tacitly, expected that the federal courts would assume a power... to pass on the constitutionality of actions of the Congress and the President."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Constitutional Law National Power and Federalism: Examples and Explanations|last=May|first=Christopher|last2=Ides|first2=Allan|last3=Grossi|first3=Simona|publisher=Wolters Kluwer|year=2007|isbn=0735562113|location=Austin|pages=18}}</ref> Judicial review also covers the evaluation of the constitutionality of the states' actions. It is even recognized that federal judges in the U.S. are appointed for life to ensure their ability to engage in judicial review.<ref>May, Ides & Grossi, p. 18.</ref>
-Influential examples of laws that were declared unconstitutional include ''[[Roe v. Wade]]'' (1973), which declared that prohibition of abortion is unconstitutional in the United States, and '' [[Brown v. Board of Education]]'' (1954), which prohibited racial segregation in American public schools.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Judicial Politics in the United States|last=Miller|first=Mark|publisher=Westview Press|year=2015|isbn=9780813346809|location=Philadelphia}}</ref>
-There are different forms of constitutions.{{explain|date=July 2020}} The United States Constitution is a "[[Rigid Constitution]]". Rigid constitutions cannot be modified in their express terms, except through such processes the constitution itself ordains.
 ==See also==
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 ==References==
-{{reflist}}
+{{Reflist}}
+{{Authority control}}
 [[Category:Constitutional law]]
+{{constitutional-law-stub}}