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Claes, Monica --- "Constitutional Law" [2006] ELECD 168; in Smits, M. Jan (ed), "Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Elgar Encyclopedia of Comparative Law

Editor(s): Smits, M. Jan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845420130

Section: Chapter 17

Section Title: Constitutional Law

Author(s): Claes, Monica

Number of pages: 13

Extract:

17 Constitutional law*
Monica Claes


1 Introduction
The study of Comparative Constitutional Law has a long tradition, and is a
well-established area of legal study, and it is undeniably on the rise. The
development of new democracies and constitutions, for instance in Central
and Eastern Europe or in South Africa, the constitutionalization of the EU
drafting the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and signing the Treaty
establishing a Constitution for Europe, and the application of constitutional
principles and doctrines to international organizations have all in their own
way given new impetus to the study of Comparative Constitutional Law.
Comparative Constitutional Law may concern any topic of constitu-
tional law, analysed from a comparative perspective. This can be done in
several ways and with various purposes. It may be done in the form of
Auslandsrechtskunde, describing for instance how federalism is shaped in
various countries, or how constitutional review is organized, in order to
learn about the constitution of another state. In addition, the study and
comparison of the domestic constitution and constitutional law with those
of other states and polities may contribute to attaining a more profound
understanding of the domestic fundamental principles and institutional
structures. Also the knowledge gained from comparative study may be used
for `constitutional engineering', for instance when constitutional amend-
ment is considered, or for constitutional interpretation. Finally, compara-
tive study of constitutions and constitutional law may lead to the discovery
of common constitutional principles, which can be relevant in interna-
tional, transnational or supranational ...