THE CONSTITUTIONALITY OF SEC. 377
Introduction:
The Indian Penal Code has been enacted in the year 1860. After its enactment 153 ago, lot of amendments, modifications were also made by the Supreme Court that suits the prevailing trends in the society. Sec. 377 of this Code deals about prohibiting unnatural offences.
That means, Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
In the recent judgment of Supreme Court, in the case of Suresh Kumar Koushal and another Vs. NAZ Foundation and others uphold the constitutionality of Sec. 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which has been widely perceived to have espoused a principle of judicial deference to Parliament. This view has forced a shift of focus amongst gay activists and right-thinking citizens to legislature, in the hope of corrective reform.
Matter of controversy:
Three main constitutional questions confronted the Court in this case:
1. Whether it violated Art. 14 of the Constitution?
2. Whether it violates the right of LGBT people to live with dignity?
3. Whether criminalizing private consensual acts between adults violates their right to privacy, also protected under Art. 21 of the Constitution?
Art. 13 of the Indian Constitution verbalized that All laws in force in the territory of India immediately before the commencement of this Constitution, in so far as they are inconsistent with the provisions of this Part, shall, to the extent of such inconsistency, be void. Art. 13 make the chapter of Fundamental Rights sacrosanct and thus secure the supremacy of the Constitution in this regard. If the Parliament enacts a law transgressing any of the limitations, the Supreme Court and the High Court are competent to declare the law unconstitutional or void.
Now in this regard, IPC Sec. 377 becomes the matter of controversy. Till 2000, there was no stumbling block to implement this section. The offences were also rare of the rarest cases. Not long ago, due to the influence of western culture, LGBT culture gradually steps into India.
To prevent the spread of HIV AIDS and other Sexually Transmitted Diseases as the intention, a charitable organization NAZ Foundation has been established. NAZ Foundation put forth an assertion that IPC has prohibited homosexuality; it has led to the increasing number of sexually transmitted diseases in the society. Therefore in 2001, it filed a petition before Delhi High Court to repeal Sec. 377.
After prolonged debates and arguments connected with Sec. 377, in 2009 July 2nd, the judgment was pronounced. It says
* Homosexuality is not at all erroneous;
* An adult without any discrimination as man/woman has the personal right to choose any person as their spouse;
* IPC Sec. 377 is ultra vires to the Constitution of India;
* The section violates Art. 14 and 21 of the Constitution;
* Experts like doctors, psychiatrists have concluded homosexuality is not at all a disease and we should not discriminate them as they are LGBT;
* It is also a basic human right.
Jolt across the nation:
After its enunciation, it has twisted a buzz all over the nation. Many people argued in favor and against this judgment. Judges, Doctors, Advocates, Actors/Actresses, Politicians, Laymen, etc started sharing their opinion as additional fuel in this burning issue.
Nation-wide arguments favoring it:
* England laid the foundation for IPC in India. Even they have accepted homosexuality rights for their citizens. Then why not in India?
* Let us just acknowledge that homosexuals are born with the natural tendency to prefer people of their own sex. If the rule is that opposite poles attract, every rule has an exception.
* Personal liberty is being made the scapegoat here, with a farcical argument of societal morality and decency.
But its also an acceptable point that homosexuality is against Indian Culture:
* Western winds are fast sweeping across India, a land of saints and sages.
* Once we accept, it will create drastic changes in the future of the heritage of our country. We have already given the go-by to the long-cherished ethos of this great nation, by accommodating something that is unnatural and perverse, in the name of personal preference.
* Homosexuality is but an acquired behavior that is caused by peer pressure, low self-esteem, and it is against family values too.
Now its all lies in the hands of our Parliament whether to accept or not to accept to decide the constitutionality of Sec. 377. Its for the legislators to delete or modify the Section as they deem fit.
But a point to be considered here is if any verdict pronounced against them, then homosexuals will henceforth find it very embarrassing to seek medical assistance openly. The law is only pushing them to engage in unsafe sex. The Supreme Court ruling may marginalize the LGBT community further.
The timeline of this NAZ Foundation case:
2001: Case has been filed before the Delhi High Court
2004, Sept.2: High Court dismissed the case. Review petition was filed again.
Nov.-Dec.: Review petition also dismissed. An appeal was made to Supreme Court.
2006, Apr. 3: Supreme Court again asked High Court to reinvestigate the issue as it is a matter of importance.
2008, Oct. 15: High Court ordered to produce the reports of Medical Experts regarding the scientific reasons behind the homosexuality.
Nov.: Central Government made a statement that Courts should not interfere with LGBT issues as the Parliament holds the authority to take decision.
2009, July 2: High Court ordered Sec. 377 is unconstitutional and it violates Art. 14 and Art. 21.
July 9: Again an appeal was made to Supreme Court against High Courts judgment by Social activists and other religious institutions.
2013 Dec. 11: Supreme Court dismissed the judgment of High Court by mentioning that Sec. 377 is an offence to be prohibited.
Dec. 20: Union Government made an appeal against the verdict of the Supreme Court.
Conclusion:
A combination of inadequate justification, sophistry and a woeful non-application of mind makes the unfortunate conclusion inescapable that the judgment ultimately rests on a deep-seated prejudice shared by the two judges that has no place in a legal judgment. For a proper legal adjudication of the issues raised, it is imperative that a review petition is filed and taken up by the Court speedily.
Abinaya Sakthivel
References:
* Criminal Manual Justice M.R. Mallick
* The Hindu Editorial column
* Constitution of India D.D. Basu
Showing posts with label Supreme Court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Supreme Court. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2014
REPRESENTATION OF PEOPLE ACT, 1951- current issues
Syllabus says Representation of Peoples Act.
* Two acts- one in 1950 and other 1951
RPA, 1950RPA, 1951
Deals mainly with the matters relating to the preparation and revision of electoral rolls.All matters relating to the actual conduct of elections.
Supplemented by Registration of Electors Rules 1960, made by the Central Government, in consultation with the Election Commission.Supplemented by the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961 framed by the CentralGovernment, in consultation with the Election Commission.
Electors Rules 1960 deal with all the aspects of preparation of electoral rolls, their periodic revision and updating, inclusion of eligible names, exclusion of ineligible names, correction of particulars, etc. These rules also provide for the issue of electoral identity cards to registered electors bearing their photographs at the State cost. These rules also empower the Election Commission to prepare the photo electoral rolls containing photographs of electors, in addition to their other particulars.This Act and the rules make detailed provisions for all stages of the conduct of elections like the issue of writ notification calling the election, filing of nominations, scrutiny of nominations, withdrawal of candidatures, taking of poll, counting of votes and constitution of the Houses on the basis of the results so declared.
All post election matters to resolve doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with the elections are also dealt in accordance with the provisions of the RPA 1951. Under this Act, all such doubts and disputes can be raised before the High Court of the State concerned, but only after the election is over and not when the election process is still on.
The two recent judgements of Supreme Court on electoral laws to cleanse the politics-
* Lily Thomas vs Union of India - ruled that Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) was ultra vires since it provide a three-month window to legislators to file an appeal against conviction of crimes.
* Why ultra vires? (Court says once convicted, article 101 will come into picture which disqualifies persons according to provisions of article 102).
* However art. 102 say person is disqualified according to law made by parliament.
* And parliament made RPA according to which person stands disqualified on conviction; so once convicted art.101 will come into picture, thereby nullifying provisions of sec 8(4) (constitution is supreme to ordinary laws).
* But constitutional expert Acharya (former secretary-general of parliament says theres no immediate disqualification)
* Article 101(3) (a) of the constitution which provides that if a member of either house of parliament- becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in Article 102 (detailed provisions of the article are mentioned below), his seat shall thereupon become vacant.
* Chief Election Commissioner vs Jan Chawkidari - more controversial ruling as it bars those in police custody or under arrest from contesting elections.
The court concluded that section 8(4) of RPA, which defers the date on which the disqualification will take effect, is ultra-vires the constitution because it is inconsistent with articles 101(3)(a) and 190(3)(a).
It is important to note that the court didnt go into the question of whether section 8(4) infringes the equality provision in Article 14.
It is obvious that the second ruling is ripe for misuse-.
* If the view of the Supreme Court is accepted, then a rival politician need only get a false First Information Report (FIR) filed against his political rival and have him sent to police custody or jail to disqualify him.
A large number of criminal cases against politicians, in any case, are of a political nature an outcome of agitation politics, protests, civil disobedience and so on. Even in the past and the present, some of our best law-makers have been part of various civil disobedience and protest movements.
Sections in question: -
1. Section 2(e) defines an elector as a person whose name is entered in the electoral roll of that constituency and who is not subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in section 16 of the RP Act, 1950. The Supreme Court has relied on the definition of elector, as found in Section 2 (e) of the RPA, and observed that in view of Sections 3, 4, and 5, to be qualified for membership of the legislature; one has to be an elector.
2. Section 8(4) of the RPA had allowed convicted legislators to appeal their conviction and evade disqualification until their appeals were exhausted. This ruling therefore tries to address an anomaly wherein a convicted criminal cannot contest elections, while convicted members of Parliament and legislative assemblies can continue to sit in the legislature for three months from the date of conviction pending the filing of legal appeals.
3. It is difficult to comprehend how the Supreme Court relied on Section 62(5) of the RPA to disqualify persons who are in jail or police custody from standing for elections, given that there is no mention of section 62(5) in the Acts definition of elector. The Act clearly distinguishes a voter and an elector- Section 62(5) only debars a person in jail from voting, not from contesting an election.
4. Section 8 (4) of the Act which carves out a saving in the case of sitting members of Parliament or State Legislature from the disqualifications under sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) of Section 8 of the Act or which defers the date on which the disqualification will take effect in the case of a sitting member of Parliament or a State Legislature is beyond the powers conferred on Parliament by the Constitution.
5. Under Section 8 (1) (2) and (3) of the Act, the disqualification takes effect from the date of conviction. Thus, there may be several sitting members of Parliament and State Legislatures who have already incurred disqualification by virtue of a conviction covered under Section 8 (1) (2) or (3) of the Act.
Reasons for SC verdict: -
The Supreme Court has given two reasons for its verdict:
* First, it held Section 8(4) to be in violation of Article 101(3)(a), and its corresponding provision for the States, Article 190(3)(a), of the Constitution.
* Article 102(1) of the Constitution states:
A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament
* if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder;
* if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;
* if he is an undischarged insolvent;
* if he is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State, or is under any acknowledgement of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State;
* if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.
* A careful perusal of Article 102 shows there is nothing therein which renders it inconsistent with Section 8(4).
* Second, the SC has held that Parliament had no legislative competence to enact Section 8(4). This reasoning, too, is difficult to accept because Entry 72 to List 1 of the 7th Schedule in the Constitution specifically allows Parliament to legislate on elections to Parliament or the State legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President and the Election Commission.
Relevance of judgement in decriminalizing politics: -
* 1/3 of parliamentarians and state legislators are accused of serious crimes.
* Politicians- organized crime nexus (booth rigging, capture, fake electors etc).
* The judgement could be seen as the symbol against wider political apathy.
* Even after institutionalized procedures like model code of conduct criminal elements continue to enter legislatures (law breakers becoming law makers).
The judgement now makes it mandatory for the incumbent legislator to vacate his/her seat if convicted of a serious crime.
The judgement, however, is applicable only for prospective convictions and not for sitting legislators who have been convicted but have filed appeals which are pending adjudication.
The judgement is a welcome push for the civil society, the NGOs etc who want to decriminalize politics, bring more transparency and accountability into it like the issue of RTI and political parties. Some jurists say it is judicial over-reach since,
* door is open for the practice of vendetta politics by ruling parties, and
* a by-election to fill a seat vacated by a convict takes time and a government surviving on a wafer-thin majority could be jeopardized. Governments should be allowed to continue until by-elections are held to fill vacancies caused by such disqualifications.
Legislators who have been convicted usually manage to file appeals and these appeals have tended not to reach their final conclusion because of the long delays in the judicial process. In some cases, the delay in justice could directly be attributed to the positions of power occupied by the legislators.
Instead of taking a narrowly legalistic view, courts should also consider the likely practical consequences of their judgments. Above all, in India, appeals drag on for years, and certainly for more than five or six years, which is the tenure of an elected representative.
The Supreme Court recently has agreed to review its judgment, holding that persons in lawful custody whether on conviction in a criminal case or otherwise cannot contest elections.
Politics offers a promising avenue for circumventing justice. While Indias elected representatives do not have formal immunity from prosecution, office-holders can rely on the trappings of office to delay or derail justice. Chief among these is the ability of elected politicians to transfer pesky officials for reasons unrelated to their performance. Some solutions to this awful scenario include,
1. rolling back of transfer raj by the govt.,
2. taking up the electoral reforms promulgated by the election commission-
* any candidate against whom charges have been framed by a court, at least 6 months prior to the election and for an offence punishable by at least 5 years in jail, should be disqualified,
3. police reforms- tenure security and stability,
4. establishment of a special electoral tribunal charged with adjudicating serious criminal cases against political aspirants, for speedy justice, and
5. modern democratic state valuing human rights should try to re-integrate the erring individuals into main stream. This is being done in many developed countries.
SOME SALIENT FEATURES OF RPA
* Qualification for membership of council of states
* Unless he is an elector for a parliamentary constituency in India.
* Qualification for membership of house of people
* A person is not qualified unless
1. In the case of a seat reserved for the SC/ST in any state, he is a member of any SC/ST respectively, whether of that state or of any other state and is an elector for any parliamentary constituency;
2. In case of any other seat he is an elector for any parliamentary constituency.
* Qualification for membership of legislative assembly
* same as above (house of people)
* Qualification for membership of legislative council
* Unless he is an elector for any assembly constituency in that state.
* In the case of seat filled by nomination- he should be ordinarily resident in that state.
* Disqualification on conviction of offences {section (8)}
* A person shall be disqualified where the convicted person is sentenced to only fine for a period of 6 years from the date of conviction or imprisonment, from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of 6 years since his release, if he/she is convicted of an offence punishable under IPC, Protection of Civil Rights etc.
* A person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than 2 years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of 6 years since his release.
* SECTION 8(4): - Gives exemption to sitting MLAs & MPs from being disqualified immediately on conviction; until 3 months have elapsed from that date, or if within that period an appeal or application for revision is brought in or until that appeal/application is disposed off by the court.
* Disqualification on grounds of corrupt practices
* The case of every person found guilty of a corrupt practice shall be submitted to the president for the determination of question as to whether such persons shall be disqualified and if so, for what period provided that the period for which the person may be disqualified shall in no case exceed 6 yrs from the date on which the orders takes effect.
* Any person who stand disqualified may submit a petition to the president for removal of such disqualification for remaining time period.
* Before giving his decision on any petition, the president shall obtain the opinion of Election Commission on such question or petition and shall act according to such opinion.
* Disqualification for dismissal for Corruption or Disloyalty.
* A person, who having held an office under the GoI or any state has been dismissed for corruption or for disloyalty to the state should be disqualified for a period of 5 yr from the date of such dismissal.
* Disqualification for Govt Contracts
* Disqualification for office under Govt company
* A person shall be disqualified if he is a managing agent or manager or secretary of any company, corporation of which govt has not less than 25% share.
* Disqualification for failure to lodge account of election expenses.
* If he fails to submit it, disqualified for 3 yrs.
* Removal or Reduction of period of disqualification.
* The Election Commission may remove any disqualification under this (except under dismissal for corruption / disloyalty) or reduce the period of such disqualification (from appeal, not suo-moto)
* Disqualification arising out of conviction and corrupt practices.
* If any person is convicted of an offence punishable under the IPC, he shall for a period of 6 yrs from the date of conviction is disqualified for voting at any election. The Election Commission may remove any disqualification under this clause.
Time to think: -
1. Whether it is morally and socially good to bar people from voting for the reason that they are being convicted?
2. Does it amount to their isolation from normal process of social organisation?
3. Elector v/s voter
by KARTHIK.R
References: -
1. RPA, 1951
2. Economic and Political weekly article on Decriminalising Politics.
3. The Hindu articles-
1. MPs, MLAs to be disqualified on date of criminal conviction
2. Judicial overreach
3. Crime, caste and judicial restraint
4. Court to review ruling on barring persons in custody from polls
* Two acts- one in 1950 and other 1951
RPA, 1950RPA, 1951
Deals mainly with the matters relating to the preparation and revision of electoral rolls.All matters relating to the actual conduct of elections.
Supplemented by Registration of Electors Rules 1960, made by the Central Government, in consultation with the Election Commission.Supplemented by the Conduct of Elections Rules 1961 framed by the CentralGovernment, in consultation with the Election Commission.
Electors Rules 1960 deal with all the aspects of preparation of electoral rolls, their periodic revision and updating, inclusion of eligible names, exclusion of ineligible names, correction of particulars, etc. These rules also provide for the issue of electoral identity cards to registered electors bearing their photographs at the State cost. These rules also empower the Election Commission to prepare the photo electoral rolls containing photographs of electors, in addition to their other particulars.This Act and the rules make detailed provisions for all stages of the conduct of elections like the issue of writ notification calling the election, filing of nominations, scrutiny of nominations, withdrawal of candidatures, taking of poll, counting of votes and constitution of the Houses on the basis of the results so declared.
All post election matters to resolve doubts and disputes arising out of or in connection with the elections are also dealt in accordance with the provisions of the RPA 1951. Under this Act, all such doubts and disputes can be raised before the High Court of the State concerned, but only after the election is over and not when the election process is still on.
The two recent judgements of Supreme Court on electoral laws to cleanse the politics-
* Lily Thomas vs Union of India - ruled that Section 8(4) of the Representation of the People Act (RPA) was ultra vires since it provide a three-month window to legislators to file an appeal against conviction of crimes.
* Why ultra vires? (Court says once convicted, article 101 will come into picture which disqualifies persons according to provisions of article 102).
* However art. 102 say person is disqualified according to law made by parliament.
* And parliament made RPA according to which person stands disqualified on conviction; so once convicted art.101 will come into picture, thereby nullifying provisions of sec 8(4) (constitution is supreme to ordinary laws).
* But constitutional expert Acharya (former secretary-general of parliament says theres no immediate disqualification)
* Article 101(3) (a) of the constitution which provides that if a member of either house of parliament- becomes subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in Article 102 (detailed provisions of the article are mentioned below), his seat shall thereupon become vacant.
* Chief Election Commissioner vs Jan Chawkidari - more controversial ruling as it bars those in police custody or under arrest from contesting elections.
The court concluded that section 8(4) of RPA, which defers the date on which the disqualification will take effect, is ultra-vires the constitution because it is inconsistent with articles 101(3)(a) and 190(3)(a).
It is important to note that the court didnt go into the question of whether section 8(4) infringes the equality provision in Article 14.
It is obvious that the second ruling is ripe for misuse-.
* If the view of the Supreme Court is accepted, then a rival politician need only get a false First Information Report (FIR) filed against his political rival and have him sent to police custody or jail to disqualify him.
A large number of criminal cases against politicians, in any case, are of a political nature an outcome of agitation politics, protests, civil disobedience and so on. Even in the past and the present, some of our best law-makers have been part of various civil disobedience and protest movements.
Sections in question: -
1. Section 2(e) defines an elector as a person whose name is entered in the electoral roll of that constituency and who is not subject to any of the disqualifications mentioned in section 16 of the RP Act, 1950. The Supreme Court has relied on the definition of elector, as found in Section 2 (e) of the RPA, and observed that in view of Sections 3, 4, and 5, to be qualified for membership of the legislature; one has to be an elector.
2. Section 8(4) of the RPA had allowed convicted legislators to appeal their conviction and evade disqualification until their appeals were exhausted. This ruling therefore tries to address an anomaly wherein a convicted criminal cannot contest elections, while convicted members of Parliament and legislative assemblies can continue to sit in the legislature for three months from the date of conviction pending the filing of legal appeals.
3. It is difficult to comprehend how the Supreme Court relied on Section 62(5) of the RPA to disqualify persons who are in jail or police custody from standing for elections, given that there is no mention of section 62(5) in the Acts definition of elector. The Act clearly distinguishes a voter and an elector- Section 62(5) only debars a person in jail from voting, not from contesting an election.
4. Section 8 (4) of the Act which carves out a saving in the case of sitting members of Parliament or State Legislature from the disqualifications under sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) of Section 8 of the Act or which defers the date on which the disqualification will take effect in the case of a sitting member of Parliament or a State Legislature is beyond the powers conferred on Parliament by the Constitution.
5. Under Section 8 (1) (2) and (3) of the Act, the disqualification takes effect from the date of conviction. Thus, there may be several sitting members of Parliament and State Legislatures who have already incurred disqualification by virtue of a conviction covered under Section 8 (1) (2) or (3) of the Act.
Reasons for SC verdict: -
The Supreme Court has given two reasons for its verdict:
* First, it held Section 8(4) to be in violation of Article 101(3)(a), and its corresponding provision for the States, Article 190(3)(a), of the Constitution.
* Article 102(1) of the Constitution states:
A person shall be disqualified for being chosen as, and for being, a member of either House of Parliament
* if he holds any office of profit under the Government of India or the Government of any State, other than an office declared by Parliament by law not to disqualify its holder;
* if he is of unsound mind and stands so declared by a competent court;
* if he is an undischarged insolvent;
* if he is not a citizen of India, or has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a foreign State, or is under any acknowledgement of allegiance or adherence to a foreign State;
* if he is so disqualified by or under any law made by Parliament.
* A careful perusal of Article 102 shows there is nothing therein which renders it inconsistent with Section 8(4).
* Second, the SC has held that Parliament had no legislative competence to enact Section 8(4). This reasoning, too, is difficult to accept because Entry 72 to List 1 of the 7th Schedule in the Constitution specifically allows Parliament to legislate on elections to Parliament or the State legislatures and the offices of President and Vice-President and the Election Commission.
Relevance of judgement in decriminalizing politics: -
* 1/3 of parliamentarians and state legislators are accused of serious crimes.
* Politicians- organized crime nexus (booth rigging, capture, fake electors etc).
* The judgement could be seen as the symbol against wider political apathy.
* Even after institutionalized procedures like model code of conduct criminal elements continue to enter legislatures (law breakers becoming law makers).
The judgement now makes it mandatory for the incumbent legislator to vacate his/her seat if convicted of a serious crime.
The judgement, however, is applicable only for prospective convictions and not for sitting legislators who have been convicted but have filed appeals which are pending adjudication.
The judgement is a welcome push for the civil society, the NGOs etc who want to decriminalize politics, bring more transparency and accountability into it like the issue of RTI and political parties. Some jurists say it is judicial over-reach since,
* door is open for the practice of vendetta politics by ruling parties, and
* a by-election to fill a seat vacated by a convict takes time and a government surviving on a wafer-thin majority could be jeopardized. Governments should be allowed to continue until by-elections are held to fill vacancies caused by such disqualifications.
Legislators who have been convicted usually manage to file appeals and these appeals have tended not to reach their final conclusion because of the long delays in the judicial process. In some cases, the delay in justice could directly be attributed to the positions of power occupied by the legislators.
Instead of taking a narrowly legalistic view, courts should also consider the likely practical consequences of their judgments. Above all, in India, appeals drag on for years, and certainly for more than five or six years, which is the tenure of an elected representative.
The Supreme Court recently has agreed to review its judgment, holding that persons in lawful custody whether on conviction in a criminal case or otherwise cannot contest elections.
Politics offers a promising avenue for circumventing justice. While Indias elected representatives do not have formal immunity from prosecution, office-holders can rely on the trappings of office to delay or derail justice. Chief among these is the ability of elected politicians to transfer pesky officials for reasons unrelated to their performance. Some solutions to this awful scenario include,
1. rolling back of transfer raj by the govt.,
2. taking up the electoral reforms promulgated by the election commission-
* any candidate against whom charges have been framed by a court, at least 6 months prior to the election and for an offence punishable by at least 5 years in jail, should be disqualified,
3. police reforms- tenure security and stability,
4. establishment of a special electoral tribunal charged with adjudicating serious criminal cases against political aspirants, for speedy justice, and
5. modern democratic state valuing human rights should try to re-integrate the erring individuals into main stream. This is being done in many developed countries.
SOME SALIENT FEATURES OF RPA
* Qualification for membership of council of states
* Unless he is an elector for a parliamentary constituency in India.
* Qualification for membership of house of people
* A person is not qualified unless
1. In the case of a seat reserved for the SC/ST in any state, he is a member of any SC/ST respectively, whether of that state or of any other state and is an elector for any parliamentary constituency;
2. In case of any other seat he is an elector for any parliamentary constituency.
* Qualification for membership of legislative assembly
* same as above (house of people)
* Qualification for membership of legislative council
* Unless he is an elector for any assembly constituency in that state.
* In the case of seat filled by nomination- he should be ordinarily resident in that state.
* Disqualification on conviction of offences {section (8)}
* A person shall be disqualified where the convicted person is sentenced to only fine for a period of 6 years from the date of conviction or imprisonment, from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of 6 years since his release, if he/she is convicted of an offence punishable under IPC, Protection of Civil Rights etc.
* A person convicted of any offence and sentenced to imprisonment for not less than 2 years shall be disqualified from the date of such conviction and shall continue to be disqualified for a further period of 6 years since his release.
* SECTION 8(4): - Gives exemption to sitting MLAs & MPs from being disqualified immediately on conviction; until 3 months have elapsed from that date, or if within that period an appeal or application for revision is brought in or until that appeal/application is disposed off by the court.
* Disqualification on grounds of corrupt practices
* The case of every person found guilty of a corrupt practice shall be submitted to the president for the determination of question as to whether such persons shall be disqualified and if so, for what period provided that the period for which the person may be disqualified shall in no case exceed 6 yrs from the date on which the orders takes effect.
* Any person who stand disqualified may submit a petition to the president for removal of such disqualification for remaining time period.
* Before giving his decision on any petition, the president shall obtain the opinion of Election Commission on such question or petition and shall act according to such opinion.
* Disqualification for dismissal for Corruption or Disloyalty.
* A person, who having held an office under the GoI or any state has been dismissed for corruption or for disloyalty to the state should be disqualified for a period of 5 yr from the date of such dismissal.
* Disqualification for Govt Contracts
* Disqualification for office under Govt company
* A person shall be disqualified if he is a managing agent or manager or secretary of any company, corporation of which govt has not less than 25% share.
* Disqualification for failure to lodge account of election expenses.
* If he fails to submit it, disqualified for 3 yrs.
* Removal or Reduction of period of disqualification.
* The Election Commission may remove any disqualification under this (except under dismissal for corruption / disloyalty) or reduce the period of such disqualification (from appeal, not suo-moto)
* Disqualification arising out of conviction and corrupt practices.
* If any person is convicted of an offence punishable under the IPC, he shall for a period of 6 yrs from the date of conviction is disqualified for voting at any election. The Election Commission may remove any disqualification under this clause.
Time to think: -
1. Whether it is morally and socially good to bar people from voting for the reason that they are being convicted?
2. Does it amount to their isolation from normal process of social organisation?
3. Elector v/s voter
by KARTHIK.R
References: -
1. RPA, 1951
2. Economic and Political weekly article on Decriminalising Politics.
3. The Hindu articles-
1. MPs, MLAs to be disqualified on date of criminal conviction
2. Judicial overreach
3. Crime, caste and judicial restraint
4. Court to review ruling on barring persons in custody from polls
Essay
Essay
Topic : The recent rulings of the Supreme Court are going to have deep implication on the political gamut of the country. Do you agree with this statement? How far? What are your disagreements?
In the last couple of years India seems to be going through a sort of awakening process. The wide spread reach of internet, proliferation of news channels, newspapers, proactive journalism and mobile phones made social forums and discussions a routine thing in even the far flung areas of the country. This has made the ordinary person aware of the deep routed sickness of corruption in the Indian bureaucratic and political system. Political corruption is more a matter of debate in the nation because of the sheer size of it. 2G, CWG, Land Scams, Coalgate, Adarsh, Porngate, Bhanwri Devi kidnap and murder, Tatra Truck controversy are all household terms nowadays.
Amidst all this a PIL was lodged in the Supreme Court demanding cleansing of politics. The Court has answered the need of the hour by a very much debatable ruling by interpreting the RPA act. Further in a separate ruling the bench headed by CJI himself has declared right to reject implicit in the fundamental rights. These two rulings of the court are supposed to go a long way in changing the face of Indian politics. It can be hoped that once politics is clean the rest of the machinery will improve rapidly.
However these rulings are not without their controversies. The first of the rulings says that any legislator or a candidate for legislature will be disqualified immediately if a court of law has convicted or found accused, such a person, in offences as defined in the RPA act as offences, conviction in which can be awarded for two or more years of sentence and/or fine for the term of the conviction and further 6 years. The existent law gave the convict a window of three months to make an appeal in the higher court and if such an appeal lies, he can carry on as a legislator, as long as the higher court does not find him guilty. The ruling of the court has eliminated the window and the tainted legislator is disqualified immediately.
This ruling will have two major impacts. First after this ruling the old scourge of criminalization of politics will get cured. It is a welcome change. Every citizen wants to see a clean legislature. There has been a resentment of law breakers holding the place of law makers. Second impact is negative, that it gives an opportunity to innovative politicians wage their political war. A politician can just get lodged an FIR against a rival politician and get him disqualified, investigations notwithstanding. Considering the influence a sitting MLA or MP has on the police and other law enforcement agencies, it is a walk in the park for them. This can disrupt the democratic functioning of our system. While in the first system it is easy for a criminal to make his way into the legislature, after the ruling it will be impossible for people with tainted record to reach the legislature, but at the same time hard for anyone to challenge the sitting legislature.
The one side of the coin is so bright that it outshines the other in the eyes of a common man. A clean legislature, MPs and MLAs who command peoples respect from their honesty in life and actions seemed to be a distant dream but the ruling of the court has made it realistic. But does a clean legislature guarantee the fulfillment of the nations dreams, elimination of poverty, hunger, disease, grievance of the tribals, a dutiful police, early justice, corruption free bureaucracy and so on. In words of Hitler, in politics, the good intentions of a man can not make up for his incompetence. There is no guarantee that even a clean legislature can be competent enough to answer the grievances of this nation, which are so difficult to handle. There is no such guarantee, only a hope. But as long as there are criminals right in the parliament, even such hope does not exist.
There are costs which the nation will have to pay for such a clean legislature. A really potent politician who is well capable of leading his people out of the misery of circumstances might become the victim of false accusations, engineered investigation, and influenced judgment and his career may get ruined. The ruling has provided powerful people a very dangerous weapon to eliminate their rivals. It is not beyond ones imagination that many a political careers will be sacrificed for this dream of clean legislature. Furthur a tainted powerful man can always field people on his behalf such as his son or wife and reap all the benefits. This ruling can clean the legislature for the purpose of paper but not necessarily for the purpose of conduct. The prospect of a clean legislature on record are bright by this ruling but a clean legislature in intentions can by no means guaranteed.
In my opinion the criminalization of politics is not a result of loopholes in the law, but its a result of bovine and careless nature of the common man. There are criminals in the parliament not because the law has permitted them to contest but because we have chosen criminals to represent us. For decades we have been voting on caste lines, communal lines, language and resemblance. People in India vote an image, not a personality. Without knowing a sinlge thing about the real character of a candidate we have been voting all our lives for his caste, religion and language. At best we vote the party, but only very rarely we vote the man. We all get blown by the propaganda. Propaganda is driven by the finance and muscle of criminals. We never try to look for the real truth for ourselves, we only trust the propaganda. The result is before us, 33% criminal in our apex legislature. Even the new ruling can eliminate the criminals from the legislature but not crime from politics. Criminal may be in the jail, but his son or wife will ride the propaganda and reach the legislature. Nothing will be solved until the common man looks into his own conscience, puts away the lure of caste and religion and votes the righteous irrespective of his background.
The court has given its best by giving this ruling, but I dont see upside down changes in the political gamut until the voting behavior changes. The role of the media is paramount in unmasking the truth behind the propaganda, and the media is doing a commendable job indeed. However, the drive behind the activeness of the media is not an urge to strengthen the democracy but TRP. I dont mind this as long as awareness about the real character of those who rule us keeps on spreading.
Lets move on to the second ruling of the court. In a landmark judgment the court has declared that the right to reject all the candidates in an election if the voters dont find any of the candidate worthy of his vote, is a fundamental right implicit in the right to expression. Earlier, one had to vote at least one of the candidates whether he like it or not. In the ruling the court has directed the election commission to add the choice NOTA as an option. If a voter finds none of the candidates worthy of his support he can reject them all by NOTA. The right to reject exist in many other democracies like USA, UK. However the NOTA will not change in the election results since a person exercising NOTA will amount to not voted for anyone. It will add zero votes to all of the candidates. However, in the true right to reject if a sufficient number of voter choose NOTA, the election will become void and fresh election will be held considering the earlier candidates were hated by so many voters that it will amount to tyranny if any one of them reached legislature.
So in those term the new ruling will not have a substantial impact on the outcome of the election, however many people believe that the coming election will be more democratic because of the NOTA option. Many of the people do not go to vote simply because they do not like any of the candidates. This new option is supposed to increase the ballot substantially. I see the importance if this ruling in paving the way for real right to reject since no big change comes at once but step by step. Once the people at large become aware of the NOTA they will demand the full right to reject. The way I see it, the constitutional duty of the Supreme Court as being the protector of the social revolution has been duly fulfilled in paving the way for a new instrument of democracy. I can imagine the NGOs and other sections of the people demanding full fledged right to reject once the NOTA becomes a wide phenomenon.
As we have seen the series of ruling by the EC and Supreme Court have come a long way in democratic process in the country. But these rulings like mandatory disclosure by the candidates of their assets and liability, declaration of criminal record if any, monitoring of the election spending, stringent codes of conduct, prohibition of liquor, disclosures of large sums of donations received by parties have not changed by a great deal the ground realities. Most of the grievances of the people still remain unsolved. Many new grievances appear. The recent rulings of the court are, in my opinion new chapters in the book of electoral reforms. This book is a book after all, it cannot change much until the reader adopts the noblel reading in his life. Not much will change if the common man does not apply his mind and use his vote as if it was a valuable asset, because a vote is valuable indeed.
What greater luck for the rulers than those whom they rule do not think. Adolf Hitler
Neeraj Gaur
Topic : The recent rulings of the Supreme Court are going to have deep implication on the political gamut of the country. Do you agree with this statement? How far? What are your disagreements?
In the last couple of years India seems to be going through a sort of awakening process. The wide spread reach of internet, proliferation of news channels, newspapers, proactive journalism and mobile phones made social forums and discussions a routine thing in even the far flung areas of the country. This has made the ordinary person aware of the deep routed sickness of corruption in the Indian bureaucratic and political system. Political corruption is more a matter of debate in the nation because of the sheer size of it. 2G, CWG, Land Scams, Coalgate, Adarsh, Porngate, Bhanwri Devi kidnap and murder, Tatra Truck controversy are all household terms nowadays.
Amidst all this a PIL was lodged in the Supreme Court demanding cleansing of politics. The Court has answered the need of the hour by a very much debatable ruling by interpreting the RPA act. Further in a separate ruling the bench headed by CJI himself has declared right to reject implicit in the fundamental rights. These two rulings of the court are supposed to go a long way in changing the face of Indian politics. It can be hoped that once politics is clean the rest of the machinery will improve rapidly.
However these rulings are not without their controversies. The first of the rulings says that any legislator or a candidate for legislature will be disqualified immediately if a court of law has convicted or found accused, such a person, in offences as defined in the RPA act as offences, conviction in which can be awarded for two or more years of sentence and/or fine for the term of the conviction and further 6 years. The existent law gave the convict a window of three months to make an appeal in the higher court and if such an appeal lies, he can carry on as a legislator, as long as the higher court does not find him guilty. The ruling of the court has eliminated the window and the tainted legislator is disqualified immediately.
This ruling will have two major impacts. First after this ruling the old scourge of criminalization of politics will get cured. It is a welcome change. Every citizen wants to see a clean legislature. There has been a resentment of law breakers holding the place of law makers. Second impact is negative, that it gives an opportunity to innovative politicians wage their political war. A politician can just get lodged an FIR against a rival politician and get him disqualified, investigations notwithstanding. Considering the influence a sitting MLA or MP has on the police and other law enforcement agencies, it is a walk in the park for them. This can disrupt the democratic functioning of our system. While in the first system it is easy for a criminal to make his way into the legislature, after the ruling it will be impossible for people with tainted record to reach the legislature, but at the same time hard for anyone to challenge the sitting legislature.
The one side of the coin is so bright that it outshines the other in the eyes of a common man. A clean legislature, MPs and MLAs who command peoples respect from their honesty in life and actions seemed to be a distant dream but the ruling of the court has made it realistic. But does a clean legislature guarantee the fulfillment of the nations dreams, elimination of poverty, hunger, disease, grievance of the tribals, a dutiful police, early justice, corruption free bureaucracy and so on. In words of Hitler, in politics, the good intentions of a man can not make up for his incompetence. There is no guarantee that even a clean legislature can be competent enough to answer the grievances of this nation, which are so difficult to handle. There is no such guarantee, only a hope. But as long as there are criminals right in the parliament, even such hope does not exist.
There are costs which the nation will have to pay for such a clean legislature. A really potent politician who is well capable of leading his people out of the misery of circumstances might become the victim of false accusations, engineered investigation, and influenced judgment and his career may get ruined. The ruling has provided powerful people a very dangerous weapon to eliminate their rivals. It is not beyond ones imagination that many a political careers will be sacrificed for this dream of clean legislature. Furthur a tainted powerful man can always field people on his behalf such as his son or wife and reap all the benefits. This ruling can clean the legislature for the purpose of paper but not necessarily for the purpose of conduct. The prospect of a clean legislature on record are bright by this ruling but a clean legislature in intentions can by no means guaranteed.
In my opinion the criminalization of politics is not a result of loopholes in the law, but its a result of bovine and careless nature of the common man. There are criminals in the parliament not because the law has permitted them to contest but because we have chosen criminals to represent us. For decades we have been voting on caste lines, communal lines, language and resemblance. People in India vote an image, not a personality. Without knowing a sinlge thing about the real character of a candidate we have been voting all our lives for his caste, religion and language. At best we vote the party, but only very rarely we vote the man. We all get blown by the propaganda. Propaganda is driven by the finance and muscle of criminals. We never try to look for the real truth for ourselves, we only trust the propaganda. The result is before us, 33% criminal in our apex legislature. Even the new ruling can eliminate the criminals from the legislature but not crime from politics. Criminal may be in the jail, but his son or wife will ride the propaganda and reach the legislature. Nothing will be solved until the common man looks into his own conscience, puts away the lure of caste and religion and votes the righteous irrespective of his background.
The court has given its best by giving this ruling, but I dont see upside down changes in the political gamut until the voting behavior changes. The role of the media is paramount in unmasking the truth behind the propaganda, and the media is doing a commendable job indeed. However, the drive behind the activeness of the media is not an urge to strengthen the democracy but TRP. I dont mind this as long as awareness about the real character of those who rule us keeps on spreading.
Lets move on to the second ruling of the court. In a landmark judgment the court has declared that the right to reject all the candidates in an election if the voters dont find any of the candidate worthy of his vote, is a fundamental right implicit in the right to expression. Earlier, one had to vote at least one of the candidates whether he like it or not. In the ruling the court has directed the election commission to add the choice NOTA as an option. If a voter finds none of the candidates worthy of his support he can reject them all by NOTA. The right to reject exist in many other democracies like USA, UK. However the NOTA will not change in the election results since a person exercising NOTA will amount to not voted for anyone. It will add zero votes to all of the candidates. However, in the true right to reject if a sufficient number of voter choose NOTA, the election will become void and fresh election will be held considering the earlier candidates were hated by so many voters that it will amount to tyranny if any one of them reached legislature.
So in those term the new ruling will not have a substantial impact on the outcome of the election, however many people believe that the coming election will be more democratic because of the NOTA option. Many of the people do not go to vote simply because they do not like any of the candidates. This new option is supposed to increase the ballot substantially. I see the importance if this ruling in paving the way for real right to reject since no big change comes at once but step by step. Once the people at large become aware of the NOTA they will demand the full right to reject. The way I see it, the constitutional duty of the Supreme Court as being the protector of the social revolution has been duly fulfilled in paving the way for a new instrument of democracy. I can imagine the NGOs and other sections of the people demanding full fledged right to reject once the NOTA becomes a wide phenomenon.
As we have seen the series of ruling by the EC and Supreme Court have come a long way in democratic process in the country. But these rulings like mandatory disclosure by the candidates of their assets and liability, declaration of criminal record if any, monitoring of the election spending, stringent codes of conduct, prohibition of liquor, disclosures of large sums of donations received by parties have not changed by a great deal the ground realities. Most of the grievances of the people still remain unsolved. Many new grievances appear. The recent rulings of the court are, in my opinion new chapters in the book of electoral reforms. This book is a book after all, it cannot change much until the reader adopts the noblel reading in his life. Not much will change if the common man does not apply his mind and use his vote as if it was a valuable asset, because a vote is valuable indeed.
What greater luck for the rulers than those whom they rule do not think. Adolf Hitler
Neeraj Gaur
Indian Constitution in Nutshell
# Constitution of India:-The Constitution of India or the Constitution of the Republic of India came in effect on January 26, 1950 and is the longest written constitution of any independent nation in the world. It contains 22 Parts 395 articles and 12 schedules. It has a total of 117,369 words in its English language version. # History of the Constitution of India:-At the end of World War II in Europe on May 9, 1945, a new government came to power in the United Kingdom. This government announced to convene a constituent drafting body in India. A team of ministers, called the Cabinet Mission, were sent to India to find solution to the question of India's independence.The Cabinet Mission discussed the framework and the procedure to be followed the drafting body. With India's independence, the Constituent Assembly became a fully sovereign body and they began the working from 9 December 1947. The Assembly had members belonging to different communities, regions and even from different political persuasions of India. Dr. Rajendra Prasad was the elected president and B.R. Ambedkar, the chairman of the Drafting Committee.Over a period of 2 years, 11 months and 18 days, before submitting the final copy of the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly met for 166 days and the sessions were always open to the press and the public.
# Features of the Constitution of India:-It has been extensively drawn from Western legal traditions in enunciation of the principles of liberal democracy. The principles of the Constitution reflect aspirants to end the inequities of traditional social relations and to enhance the social welfare of the population. Since the enactment, the constitution has always fostered for a steady concentrate of power to the central government, especially to Prime Minister Office (PMO).
# Borrowed Features of Indian Constitution from other Constitutions:-British Constitution* Parliamentary form of government* The idea of single citizenship* The idea of the Rule of law* Institution of Speaker and his role* Lawmaking procedureUnited States Constitution* Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is similar to the United States Bill of Rights* Federal structure of government* Power of Judicial Review and independence of the judiciary
Irish Constitution* Constitutional enunciation of the directive principles of state policyFrench Constitution* Ideals of Liberty, Equality and FraternityCanadian Constitution* A quasi-federal form of government (a federal system with a strong central government)* the idea of Residual Powers
Australian Constitution* the idea of the Concurrent list* Freedom of trade and commerce within the country and between the statesSoviet Constitution* The Planning Commission and Five-Year Plans* Fundamental Duties
# Preamble:-The Preamble highlights few fundamental values and guiding principles on which the Constitution of India is based. It serves as the guiding light for both, the Constitution as well as the judges who interpret the Constitution in its light. The opening few words of the Preamble - "We, the people" - signifies that the power is vested in the hands of the people of India. The Preamble is as follows:WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:* JUSTICE, social, economic and political;* LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;* EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all* FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.Initially the preamble was not the part of the Constitution of India but the Supreme Court, in the case of 'Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala' found it to be part of the Constitution and can be used in interpret ambiguous areas of the Constitution. The words "SOCIALIST" and "SECULAR" were introduced in 42nd amendment act 1976.
# Terms of Preamble, Explained:-Sovereign - It means supreme or independent. The country is both, internally as well as externally sovereign. Externally it is free from any foreign power and internally it exercises a free government directly elected by the people and makes laws that govern the people.Socialist - The word was added by the 42nd amendment act of 1976. It implies to social and economic equality. Social equality means there is no discrimination on the grounds of caste, color, creed, sex, religion, language, etc. Each one enjoys equal status and opportunities. By economic equality it means that the government will endeavour for equal distribution of wealth and to provide a decent standard of living for all, hence a committment in forming a welfare state. Abolition of Untouchability and Zamindari, the Equal Wages Act and the Child Labour Prohibition Act were few steps taken by the government in this context.Secular - The word was inserted by the 42nd amendment act of 1976. Secular implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance. No state in India have an official state religion. Anybody can preach, practice and propagate any religion of his or her choice. In the eyes of law all citizens are equal irrespective of their religious beliefs. No religious instruction is imparted in government schools or government-aided schools.Democratic - This mean that the government of all levels are elected by the people through a system of universal adult franchise. Every citizen irrespective of caste, creed, color, sex, religion or education who is 18 years of age and above is entitled to vote, if not debarred by law.Republic - The term means that the head of the state is elected, directly or indirectly, for a fixed tenure. The President of India is elected by Electoral College for a fixed period of five years.
# Articles:-Part I - consists of Articles 1 - 4 on the Union and its TerritoryPart II - consists of Articles 5 - 11 on Citizenship.Part III - consists of Articles 12 - 35 on Fundamental Rights.* Articles 14 - 18 on Right to Equality,* Articles 19 - 22 on Right to Freedom,* Articles 23 - 24 on Right against Exploitation,* Articles 25 - 28 on Right to Freedom of Religion,* Articles 29 - 31 on Cultural and Educational Rights,* Articles 32 - 35 on Right to Constitutional Remedies.Part IV - consists of Articles 36 - 51 on Directive Principles of State Policy.Part IV (A) - consists of Article 51A - Fundamental Duties of each citizen of India.
Part V - consists of Articles on the Union.Chapter I - Articles 52 to 78 on The Executive.* Articles 52 - 73 on the President and Vice-President,* Articles 74 - 75 on Council of Ministers,* Articles 76 - Attorney General of India,* Articles 77 - 78 on the Conduct of Government BusinessChapter II - Articles 79 - 122 on Parliament.* Articles 79 - 88 on Constitution of Parliament,* Articles 89 - 98 on Officers of Parliament,* Articles 99 - 100 on Conduct of Business,* Articles 101 - 104 on Disqualification of members,* Articles 105 - 106 on Powers, privileges and Immunities of Parliament and its Members,* Articles 107 - 111 on Legislative Procedure,* Articles 112 - 117 on Procedure in Financial Matters,* Articles 118 - 122 on Procedure Generally.Chapter III - Article 123 on the Legislative Powers of the President.* Article 123 on Power of president to promulgate Ordinances during recess of ParliamentChapter IV - Articles 124 - 147 on The Union Judiciary.* Articles 124 - 147 Establishment and Constitution of Supreme CourtChapter V - Articles 148 - 151 on the Controller and Auditor-General of India.* Articles 148 - 151 on Duties and powers of Comptroller and Auditor-General.
Part VI - Articles on the States.Chapter I - Article 152 on the General definition of a State of the Union of India* Article 152 - Exclusion of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from the general definition of a state of the
Union of India. Chapter II - Articles 153 - 167 on the Executive* Articles 153 - 162 on the Governor,* Articles 163 - 164 on the Council of Ministers,* Article 165 on the Advocate-General for the State.* Articles 166 - 167 on the Conduct of Government Business.Chapter III - Articles 168 - 212 on The State Legislature.* Articles 168 - 177 General* Articles 178 - 187 on the Officers of the State Legislature,* Articles 188 - 189 on Conduct of Business,* Articles 190 - 193 on Disqualification of members,* Articles 194 - 195 on Powers, Privileges and Immunities Parliament and its Members,* Articles 196 - 201 on Legislative Procedure,* Articles 202 - 207 on Procedure in Financial Matters,* Articles 208 - 212 on Procedure Generally.Chapter IV - Article 213 on the Legislative Powers of the Governor* Article 213 - Power of president to promulgate Ordinances during recess of ParliamentChapter V - Articles 214 - 231 on The High Courts in the States.* Articles 214 - 231 on High Courts in the States,Chapter VI - Articles 233 - 237 on the Subordinate Courts* Articles 232 - 237 on Subordinate Courts
Part VII - consists of Articles on States in the B part of the First schedule. * Article 238 Repealed, Replaced by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29 and Sch.Part VIII - consists of Articles on The Union Territories* Articles 239 - 242 Administration, creation of Council of Ministers and High CourtsPart IX - consists of Articles on the Panchayat system.* Articles 243 - 243O on the Gram Sabha and Panchayat systemPart IXA - consists of Articles on Municipalities.* Articles 243P - 243ZG on MunicipalitiesPart X - consists of Articles on the scheduled and Tribal Areas* Articles 244 - 244A on Administration, creation of Council of Ministers, and legislatures.Part XI - consists of Articles on Relations between the Union and the States.Chapter I - Articles 245 - 255 on the Distribution of Legislative Powers* Articles 245 - 255 on Distribution of Legislative Relations
Chapter II - Articles 256 - 263 on Administrative Relations* Articles 256 - 261 - General* Article 262 - on Disputes relating to waters.* Article 263 - on Co-ordination between StatesPart XII - consists of Articles on Finance, Property, Contracts and SuitsChapter I - Articles 264 - 291 on Finance* Articles 264 - 267 General* Articles 268 - 281 on Distribution Revenues between the Union and the States* Articles 282 - 291 on Miscellaneous Financial ProvisionsChapter II - Articles 292 - 293 on Borrowing* Articles 292 - 293 on Borrowing by StatesChapter III - Articles 294 - 300 on Property, Contracts, Right, Liabilities, Obligations and Suits* Articles 294 - 300 on Succession to property assets, liabilities, and obligations.
Chapter IV - Article 300A on the Right to Property* Article 300A - on Persons not to be deprived of property save by authority of lawPart XIII - consists of Articles on Trade and Commerce within the territory of India* Articles 301 - 305 on Freedom of Trade and Commerce, and the power of Parliament and States to impose
Restrictions on the same. * Article 306 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956* Article 307 - Appointment of authority for carrying out the purposes of articles 301 to 304.Part XIV - consists of Articles on Services Under the Union and the StatesChapter I - Articles 308 - 314 on Services* Articles 308 - 313 on Services* Article 314 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act, 1972,
Chapter II - Articles 315 - 323 on the Public Service Commissions* Articles 315 - 323 on Public Service CommissionsPart XIVA - consists of Articles on Tribunals* Articles 323 A - 323 BPart XV - consists of Articles on Elections* Articles 324 - 329 on Elections* Article 329A - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978,
Part XVI - consists of Articles on Special Provisions relating to certain Classes.* Articles 330 - 342 on Reservations
Part XVII - consists of Articles on Official LanguageChapter I - Articles 343 - 344 on Language of the Union* Articles 343 - 344 Official Language of the UnionChapter II - Articles 345 - 347 on Regional Languages* Articles 345 - 347 on Language of the State
Chapter III - Articles 348 - 349 on Language of the Supreme Court, High courts, Etc* Articles 348 - 349 on Language used in Supreme Court, High courts Etc
Chapter IV - Articles 350 - 351 on Special Directives* Article 350 - on Language to be used in representations for redress of grievances.* Article 350A - on Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary stage.* Article 350B - on provision for Special Officer for linguistic minorities.* Article 351 - on Directive for development of the Hindi language.Part XVIII - consists of Articles on Emergency Provisions* Articles 352 - 359 on Emergency Provisions* Article 359A - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Sixty-third Amendment) Act, 1989
* Article 360 - on Provisions as to financial emergency.Part XIX - Miscellaneous* Articles 361 - 361A - Miscellaneous* Article 362 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 1971, * Articles 363 - 367 - Miscellaneous.Part XX - consists of Articles on Amendment of the Constitution* Articles 368 on the Power of parliament to amend the constitution and procedure thereforePart XXI - consists of Articles on Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions* Articles 369 - 378A on Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions* Article 379 - 391 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956* Article 392 - on the Power of the President to remove difficulties.Part XXII consists of Articles on short title, date of commencement, Authoritative text in Hindi and Repeals.* Articles 393 - 395 Commencement, authoritative text in Hindi and repeals
# SCHEDULE:-
First Schedule: List of the States and Union Territories in list I & List II
Second Schedule:Consists of 5 Parts A to E. Provision & Salary of President, Governors, Chief Judges, Judges
Of High Court and Supreme Court, Comptroller and Auditor General.Third Schedule: Forms of Oaths and Affirmations.Fourth Schedule: Allocation of seats for each State and Union Territory, in the Council of States.Fifth Schedule:Administration and control of Scheduled Areas.
Sixth Schedule:Provisions for administration of Tribal Area in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram
Seventh Schedule: Gives allocation of powers and functions between Union & States. It contains 3 lists
Union List: 97 Subjects.
States List: 66 subjects
Concurrent List: 47 subjects.
Eighth Schedule:22 languages recognized by the Constitution : 1. Assamese, 2. Bengali, 3. Gujarati, 4. Hindi, 5. Kannada, 6. Kashmiri, 7. Malayalam, 8. Marathi, 9. Oriya, 10. Punjabi, 11. Sanskrit, 12. Sindhi, 13. Tamil, 14. Telugu, 15, Urdu, 16. Konkani, 17. Manipuri, 18. Nepali. 19. Bodo, 20. Dongri 21. Maithili 22. Santhali Ninth Schedule:Contains acts & orders related to land tenure, land tax, railways, and industries.
Tenth Schedule: It contains the Anti-defection Act.Eleventh Schedule: 73rd amendment in 1992.Contains provisions of Panchayati Raj. Twelfth Schedule: 74thamendment in 1992.Contains provisions of Municipal Corporation.
# Important Amendmentsof the Constitution:
The first Amendment Act 1951: Articles 15, 19, 85, 87, 174, 176, 341, 342, and 376 were amended and Articles 31A and 3IB inserted and Ninth Schedule was added.
24th Amendment Act, 1971:It affirmed the power of the Parliament to amend any part of the Constitution. After this amendment, the President is bound to assent to Constitution Amendment Bill. Education was transferred to the Concurrent List by this amendment.
31st Amendment Act, 1973:Increased the elective strength of the Lok Sabha from 525 to 545. Under the Act, the upper limit of representatives of the States goes up from 500 to 525 and that of the Union Territories decreases from 25 to 20.
36th Amendment Act, 1975:Sikkim became the 22nd State of the Indian Union.
37th Amendment Act, 1975:Parliament on April 26, 1975, to provide for a Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers to Arunachal Pradesh.
39th Amendment Act, 1975:The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha and received Presidential assent.The Act places beyond challenge in courts the election to Parliament of a person holding the office of Prime Minister or Speaker and the election of President and Vice-President.
40th Amendment Act, 1976:This Amendment has a three-fold objective: (1) It places beyond challenge in courts some major Central laws (2) It gives similar protection to several State enactments, mostly relating to land legislation, by including them in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution; and (3) It provides that the limits of the territorial waters, the Continental Shelf, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the maritime zones of India shall be specified from time to time by law made by Parliament.
42nd Amendment Act, 1976:It was enacted during the period of internal emergency. It was passed by Parliament on November 11, 1976 and received Presidential assent on December 18, 1976.
The Amendment establishedbeyond doubt the supremacy of Parliament over the other wings of Government; gave the Directive Principles precedence over the Fundamental Rights; enumerated for the first time a set of ten Fundamental Duties. It further imposed limits on the power and jurisdiction of the judiciary; raised the term of the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha from five to six years; authorised the use of Central armed forces in any State to deal with law and order problems, made the President bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers and envisaged the establishment of administrative tribunals for service matters of Government employees and also other tribunals for economic offences. The Act also clearly laid down that no Constitutional Amendment could be questioned in any court of law.
43rd Amendment Act, 1978:It received the Presidential assent on April 13, 1978. This Act repeals the obnoxious provisions of the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act passed during the Emergency. It restores civil liberties by deleting Article 3ID which gave powers to Parliament to curtail even legitimate trade union activity under the guise of legislation for the prevention of anti-national activities. The new law, which was ratified by more than half of the States in accordance with the Constitution, also restores legislative powers to the States to make appropriate provision for anti-national activities consistent with the Fundamental Rights. Under the Act, the judiciary has also been restored to its rightful place. The Supreme Court will now have power to invalidate State laws, a power taken away by the 42nd Amendment Act. The High Courts will also be able to go into the question of constitutional validity of Central laws thereby enabling persons living in distant places to obtain speedy justice without having to come to the Supreme Court.
44th Amendment Act, 1978: The Act removes major distortions in the Constitution introduced during the Emergency. The duration of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies has been reduced from six to five yearsthe normal term which was extended during the Emergency under the 42nd Amendment to achieve some political purposes. The Right to Property ceases to be a Fundamental Right and becomes only a legal right. Any proclamation of Emergency need henceforward be issued by the President only after receiving the advice of the Cabinet as a whole in writing. The President will not be called upon to act on the basis of advice by the Prime Minister on his own without consulting his Cabinet. Other safeguards provide that the proclamation will have to be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the members of both Houses of Parliament within a month. Safeguards against future subversion of the Constitution for establishing an authoritarian regime. It contains provisions which are designed to make it impossible to impose the kind of emergency the country had experienced for 19 months.
45th Amendment Act, 1980:Reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in Parliament and the State Assemblies and the representation of Anglo-Indians by nomination for a further period of 10 years.
46th Amendment Bill, 1982:It seeks to authorise the government to prepare an authoritative text of the Constitution, in Hindi.
52nd Amendment Act, 1985:The Act has made defection to another party, after elections illegal. Any member defecting to another party after elections will be disqualified from being Member of Parliament or State Legislature.
53rd Amendment Act, 1986:It confers Statehood on Mizoram and ensures against unnecessary interference by the Central Government with the laws relating to spheres of social relationship and community conduct applicable to Mizoram.
54th Amendment Act, 1986:It enhances the salaries of Judges of High Courts and Supreme Court of India. The salary of Chief Justice of India will be Rs 10,000; Chief Justice of High Courts Rs 9000; Judges of Supreme Court Rs 9000; and Judges of High Courts Rs 8000.
55th Amendment Act, 1987:It grants Statehood to Arunachal Pradesh which consequently became the 24th State of the Indian Union.
56th Amendment Act, 1987:It confers Statehood on Goa and forms a new Union Territory of Daman and Diu. Goa thus became the 25th State of the Indian Republic.
57th Amendment Act, 1987:It made a special provision for the setting up of the new State of Goa. Consequently Daman and Diu were separated from the former to form a Union Territory.
58th Amendment Act, 1988:It provides for special arrangements with regard to reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya. By amending Article 322 the adjustment of seats has been frozen until 2000 A.D.
59th Amendment Act, 1988:It empowered the Central Government to impose Emergency in Punjab when deemed necessary. Under the amendment, Presidents rule can be extended upto three years. Earlier maximum period was two years.
61st Amendment Act, 1989:It lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
62nd Amendment Act, 1989:It provided for the extension by another 10 years of reservation of seats in the Parliament and State Assemblies for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and reservation for Anglo Indian community by nomination.
66th Amendment Act, 1990:To bring land reforms within the purview of 9th Schedule of the Constitution.69th Amendment Act, 1991:Delhi made National Capital Region. The Act also made provision for Legislative assembly and a council of ministers for Delhi.70th Amendment Act, 1992:Before this act was made Article 54 relating to the election of the President provided for an electoral college consisting only of the elected members of Parliament as well as the legislative assemblies of the States (not of Union Territories). The amendment provide for inclusion of members of legislature of Pondicherry and Delhi.71st Amendment Act, 1992:The act amends the 8th Schedule to the Constitution to include Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali Languages in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
72nd Amendment Act, 1992:To make temporary provision for the determination of the number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the State assembly of Tripura, until the re-adjustment of seats is made on the basis of the first census after the year 2000 under article 170 of the Constitution.73rd Amendment Act, 1992:To ensure direct election to all seats in Panchayats; to reserve seats for SCs and STs in proportion to their population; and for reservation of not less than one third of the seats in Panchayats for women.74th Amendment Act, 1992:was made to ensure direct election to all seats in Nagarpalikas and Municipalities.75th Amendment Act 1994:It provides for setting up of State-level Rent Tribunals to exclude the jurisdiction of all courts, except that of the Supreme Court, under Article 136 of the Constitution.76th Amendment Act, 1994:It relates to the Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutes and of appointments or posts in the Services under a State, for Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Supreme Court had ruled on November 16, 1992, that the total reservations under Article 16(40) of the Constitution should not exceed 50 per cent.
77th Amendment Act, 1995:According to this Act, the Government have decided to continue the existing policy of reservation in promotion for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.78th Amendment Act, 1995:It includes land reform laws in the Ninth Schedule so that they cannot be challenged before the courts.79th Amendment Act, 1999:It extends the reservation of seats for SC, ST and Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies for next 10 years.80th Amendment Act, 2000:It deals with an alternative scheme for sharing taxes between the Union and the States.
81st Amendment Act, 2000:It provides that the unfilled vacancies of a year reserved for SC/ST kept for being filled up in a year as per Article 16, shall be considered separately for filling vacancies in the succeeding year and the previous list will not be considered for filling the 50% quota of the respective year.82nd Amendment Act, 2000:It provides that nothing in the Article 355 shall prevent the State from making any provisions in favour of the members of SC/ST for relaxation in qualifying marks with respect to examination/job/promotion.
83rd Amendment Act, 2000: The Act amended Article 243 M to provide that no reservation in Panchayats be made in favour of SC/ST in Arunachal Pradesh where the whole population is tribal.
86th Amendment Act, 2002: Provides Right to Education until the age of 14 and early childhood care until the age of 6.
89th Amendment Act, 2003: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was bifurcated into The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
91st Amendment Act, 2004: Restrict the size of council of ministers to 15% of legislative members & to strengthen Anti Defection laws. Amended articles 75 and 164. Insert article 361B. Amended schedule 10.
97thAmendment Act, 2012: The amendment objective is to encourage economic activities of cooperatives which in turn help progress of rural India. It is expected to not only ensure autonomous and democratic functioning of cooperatives, but also the accountability of the management to the members and other stakeholders
98thAmendment Act, 2013: To empower the Governor of Karnataka to take steps to develop the Hyderabad-Karnataka Region instered Article 371J in the Constitution
# Important Articles of the Indian Constitution:
Art.1- Name and territory of the union. Art.2- Admission and Establishment of the new state. Art.3- Formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries, and name of existing States.
Art.5 -Citizenship at the commencement of the constitution. Art.6 -Rights of citizenship of certain person who have migrated to India from Pakistan. Art.10- Continuance of rights of citizenship. Art.11- Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship by law.
Art.13- Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights. Art.14- Equality before the law. Art.15- Prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex. Or place of Birth. Art.16- Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. Art.17- Abolition of the untouchability. Art.19- Guarantees to all the citizens the six rights (a) Right to freedom of speech and expression. (b) Right to assemble peacefully and without arms. (c) Right to form associations or unions. (d) Right to move freely throughout the territory of India. (e) Right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India. (f) Right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade, and business. Art.20- Protection in respect of conviction for offences. Art.21- Protection of life and personal liberty. Art.22- Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases. Art.23- Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour. Art.24- Prohibition of employment of children in factories and mines. Under age of 14. Art.25- Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion. Art.26- Freedom to manage religious affairs. Art.27- Freedom as to pay taxes for promotion of any particular religion. Art.28- Freedom from attending religious instruction. Art.29- Protection of interest of minorities. Art.30- Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.. Art.32- Remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. Art.37- Application of DPSP Art.39A-Equal justice and free legal aid Art.40- Organization of village panchayat Art.41- Right to work, to education, and to public assistance in certain cases Art.43- Living Wages, etc. for Workers. Art.43A- Participation of workers in management of industries. Art.44- Uniform civil code. (Applicable in Goa only) Art.45- Provision for free and compulsory education for children. Art.46- Promotion of educational and economic interest of scheduled castes, ST, and OBC. Art.47-Duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health. Art.48-Organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry. Art.49- Protection of monuments and places and objects of natural importance. Art.50- Separation of judiciary from executive. Art.51- Promotion of international peace and security. . Art 51A It contains, originally 10 duties, now it contains 11 duties by 86thamendments act 2002. Art.52- The President of India Art.53- Executive Power of the union. Art.54- Election of President Art.61- Procedure for Impeachment of the President. Art.63- The Vice-president of India. Art.64- The Vice-President to be ex-officio chairmans the council of States. Art.66-Election of Vice-president. Art.72-Pradoning powers of President. Art.74- Council of minister to aid and advice President. Art.76- Attorney-General for India. Art.79- Constitution of Parliament Art.80- Composition of Rajya Sabha. Art.81- Composition of Lok Sabha. Art.83- Duration of Houses of Parliament. Art.93- The speakers and Deputy Speakers of the house of the people. Art.105- Powers, Privileges, etc of the House of Parliament. Art.109- Special procedure in respects of money bills Art.110- Definition of Money Bills. Art.112- Annual Financial Budget. Art.114-Appropriation Bills. Art.123- Powers of the President to promulgate Ordinances during recess of parliament. Art.124- Establishment of Supreme Court. Art.125- Salaries of Judges. Art.126- Appointment of acting Chief justice. Art.127- Appointment of ad-hoc judges. Art.128-Attendence of retired judge at sitting of the Supreme Court. Art.129- Supreme court to be court of Record. Art.130- Seat of the Supreme Court. Art.136- Special leaves for appeal to the Supreme Court. Art.137- Review of judgments or orders by the Supreme court. Art.141-Decision of the Supreme Court binding on all the courts. Art.148- Comptroller and Auditor- General of India Art.149- Duties and Powers of CAG. Art.153- Governors of State Art.154- Executive Powers of Governor. Art.161- Pardoning powers of the Governor. Art.165-Advocate-General of the State. Art.213- Power of Governor to promulgate ordinances. Art.214- High Courts for states. Art.215- High Courts to be court of record. Art.226- Power of High Courts to issue certain writs. Art.233- Appointment of District judges. Art.235- Control over Sub-ordinate Courts. Art.243A-Gram Sabha Art.243B-Constitution of Panchayats Art.280- Finance Commission Art.300-A- Right to property. Art.301-Freedom to trade, commerce, and intercourse. Art.302- Power of Parliament to impose restrictions on trade, commerce, and intercourse. Art.312- All- India-Service. Art.315- Public service commissions for the union and for the states Art.320- Functions of Public Service Commission. Art.323A- Administrative Tribunals Art.324-Superintendence, direction and control of Elections to be vested in an Election Commission. Art.325- No person to be ineligible for inclusion in or to claim to be included in a special, electoral roll on
Grounds of religion, race, caste, or sex. Art.326- Elections to the house of the people and to the legislative assemblies of states to be on the basis of
Adult suffrage. Art.338- National Commission for the SC, & ST. Art.340- Appointment of a commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes. Art.343- Official languages of the Union. Art.345- Official languages or languages of states. Art.348- Languages to be used in the Supreme Court and in the High Courts. Art.351-Directive for development of the Hindi languages. Art.352- Proclamation of emergency (National Emergency). Art.356- State Emergency Art.360- Financial Emergency Art.361- Protection of President and Governors Art.368- Powers of Parliaments to amend the constitution. Art.370- Special provision of J&K.
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By Jawed Iqubal
References: 1. Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap
2. The Constitution of Indian by P.M. Bakshi
3. Www. http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html
# Features of the Constitution of India:-It has been extensively drawn from Western legal traditions in enunciation of the principles of liberal democracy. The principles of the Constitution reflect aspirants to end the inequities of traditional social relations and to enhance the social welfare of the population. Since the enactment, the constitution has always fostered for a steady concentrate of power to the central government, especially to Prime Minister Office (PMO).
# Borrowed Features of Indian Constitution from other Constitutions:-British Constitution* Parliamentary form of government* The idea of single citizenship* The idea of the Rule of law* Institution of Speaker and his role* Lawmaking procedureUnited States Constitution* Charter of Fundamental Rights, which is similar to the United States Bill of Rights* Federal structure of government* Power of Judicial Review and independence of the judiciary
Irish Constitution* Constitutional enunciation of the directive principles of state policyFrench Constitution* Ideals of Liberty, Equality and FraternityCanadian Constitution* A quasi-federal form of government (a federal system with a strong central government)* the idea of Residual Powers
Australian Constitution* the idea of the Concurrent list* Freedom of trade and commerce within the country and between the statesSoviet Constitution* The Planning Commission and Five-Year Plans* Fundamental Duties
# Preamble:-The Preamble highlights few fundamental values and guiding principles on which the Constitution of India is based. It serves as the guiding light for both, the Constitution as well as the judges who interpret the Constitution in its light. The opening few words of the Preamble - "We, the people" - signifies that the power is vested in the hands of the people of India. The Preamble is as follows:WE, THE PEOPLE OF INDIA, having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a SOVEREIGN SOCIALIST SECULAR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC and to secure to all its citizens:* JUSTICE, social, economic and political;* LIBERTY of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship;* EQUALITY of status and of opportunity; and to promote among them all* FRATERNITY assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation;IN OUR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY this twenty-sixth day of November, 1949, do HEREBY ADOPT, ENACT AND GIVE TO OURSELVES THIS CONSTITUTION.Initially the preamble was not the part of the Constitution of India but the Supreme Court, in the case of 'Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala' found it to be part of the Constitution and can be used in interpret ambiguous areas of the Constitution. The words "SOCIALIST" and "SECULAR" were introduced in 42nd amendment act 1976.
# Terms of Preamble, Explained:-Sovereign - It means supreme or independent. The country is both, internally as well as externally sovereign. Externally it is free from any foreign power and internally it exercises a free government directly elected by the people and makes laws that govern the people.Socialist - The word was added by the 42nd amendment act of 1976. It implies to social and economic equality. Social equality means there is no discrimination on the grounds of caste, color, creed, sex, religion, language, etc. Each one enjoys equal status and opportunities. By economic equality it means that the government will endeavour for equal distribution of wealth and to provide a decent standard of living for all, hence a committment in forming a welfare state. Abolition of Untouchability and Zamindari, the Equal Wages Act and the Child Labour Prohibition Act were few steps taken by the government in this context.Secular - The word was inserted by the 42nd amendment act of 1976. Secular implies equality of all religions and religious tolerance. No state in India have an official state religion. Anybody can preach, practice and propagate any religion of his or her choice. In the eyes of law all citizens are equal irrespective of their religious beliefs. No religious instruction is imparted in government schools or government-aided schools.Democratic - This mean that the government of all levels are elected by the people through a system of universal adult franchise. Every citizen irrespective of caste, creed, color, sex, religion or education who is 18 years of age and above is entitled to vote, if not debarred by law.Republic - The term means that the head of the state is elected, directly or indirectly, for a fixed tenure. The President of India is elected by Electoral College for a fixed period of five years.
# Articles:-Part I - consists of Articles 1 - 4 on the Union and its TerritoryPart II - consists of Articles 5 - 11 on Citizenship.Part III - consists of Articles 12 - 35 on Fundamental Rights.* Articles 14 - 18 on Right to Equality,* Articles 19 - 22 on Right to Freedom,* Articles 23 - 24 on Right against Exploitation,* Articles 25 - 28 on Right to Freedom of Religion,* Articles 29 - 31 on Cultural and Educational Rights,* Articles 32 - 35 on Right to Constitutional Remedies.Part IV - consists of Articles 36 - 51 on Directive Principles of State Policy.Part IV (A) - consists of Article 51A - Fundamental Duties of each citizen of India.
Part V - consists of Articles on the Union.Chapter I - Articles 52 to 78 on The Executive.* Articles 52 - 73 on the President and Vice-President,* Articles 74 - 75 on Council of Ministers,* Articles 76 - Attorney General of India,* Articles 77 - 78 on the Conduct of Government BusinessChapter II - Articles 79 - 122 on Parliament.* Articles 79 - 88 on Constitution of Parliament,* Articles 89 - 98 on Officers of Parliament,* Articles 99 - 100 on Conduct of Business,* Articles 101 - 104 on Disqualification of members,* Articles 105 - 106 on Powers, privileges and Immunities of Parliament and its Members,* Articles 107 - 111 on Legislative Procedure,* Articles 112 - 117 on Procedure in Financial Matters,* Articles 118 - 122 on Procedure Generally.Chapter III - Article 123 on the Legislative Powers of the President.* Article 123 on Power of president to promulgate Ordinances during recess of ParliamentChapter IV - Articles 124 - 147 on The Union Judiciary.* Articles 124 - 147 Establishment and Constitution of Supreme CourtChapter V - Articles 148 - 151 on the Controller and Auditor-General of India.* Articles 148 - 151 on Duties and powers of Comptroller and Auditor-General.
Part VI - Articles on the States.Chapter I - Article 152 on the General definition of a State of the Union of India* Article 152 - Exclusion of the state of Jammu and Kashmir from the general definition of a state of the
Union of India. Chapter II - Articles 153 - 167 on the Executive* Articles 153 - 162 on the Governor,* Articles 163 - 164 on the Council of Ministers,* Article 165 on the Advocate-General for the State.* Articles 166 - 167 on the Conduct of Government Business.Chapter III - Articles 168 - 212 on The State Legislature.* Articles 168 - 177 General* Articles 178 - 187 on the Officers of the State Legislature,* Articles 188 - 189 on Conduct of Business,* Articles 190 - 193 on Disqualification of members,* Articles 194 - 195 on Powers, Privileges and Immunities Parliament and its Members,* Articles 196 - 201 on Legislative Procedure,* Articles 202 - 207 on Procedure in Financial Matters,* Articles 208 - 212 on Procedure Generally.Chapter IV - Article 213 on the Legislative Powers of the Governor* Article 213 - Power of president to promulgate Ordinances during recess of ParliamentChapter V - Articles 214 - 231 on The High Courts in the States.* Articles 214 - 231 on High Courts in the States,Chapter VI - Articles 233 - 237 on the Subordinate Courts* Articles 232 - 237 on Subordinate Courts
Part VII - consists of Articles on States in the B part of the First schedule. * Article 238 Repealed, Replaced by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956, s. 29 and Sch.Part VIII - consists of Articles on The Union Territories* Articles 239 - 242 Administration, creation of Council of Ministers and High CourtsPart IX - consists of Articles on the Panchayat system.* Articles 243 - 243O on the Gram Sabha and Panchayat systemPart IXA - consists of Articles on Municipalities.* Articles 243P - 243ZG on MunicipalitiesPart X - consists of Articles on the scheduled and Tribal Areas* Articles 244 - 244A on Administration, creation of Council of Ministers, and legislatures.Part XI - consists of Articles on Relations between the Union and the States.Chapter I - Articles 245 - 255 on the Distribution of Legislative Powers* Articles 245 - 255 on Distribution of Legislative Relations
Chapter II - Articles 256 - 263 on Administrative Relations* Articles 256 - 261 - General* Article 262 - on Disputes relating to waters.* Article 263 - on Co-ordination between StatesPart XII - consists of Articles on Finance, Property, Contracts and SuitsChapter I - Articles 264 - 291 on Finance* Articles 264 - 267 General* Articles 268 - 281 on Distribution Revenues between the Union and the States* Articles 282 - 291 on Miscellaneous Financial ProvisionsChapter II - Articles 292 - 293 on Borrowing* Articles 292 - 293 on Borrowing by StatesChapter III - Articles 294 - 300 on Property, Contracts, Right, Liabilities, Obligations and Suits* Articles 294 - 300 on Succession to property assets, liabilities, and obligations.
Chapter IV - Article 300A on the Right to Property* Article 300A - on Persons not to be deprived of property save by authority of lawPart XIII - consists of Articles on Trade and Commerce within the territory of India* Articles 301 - 305 on Freedom of Trade and Commerce, and the power of Parliament and States to impose
Restrictions on the same. * Article 306 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956* Article 307 - Appointment of authority for carrying out the purposes of articles 301 to 304.Part XIV - consists of Articles on Services Under the Union and the StatesChapter I - Articles 308 - 314 on Services* Articles 308 - 313 on Services* Article 314 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Twenty-eighth Amendment) Act, 1972,
Chapter II - Articles 315 - 323 on the Public Service Commissions* Articles 315 - 323 on Public Service CommissionsPart XIVA - consists of Articles on Tribunals* Articles 323 A - 323 BPart XV - consists of Articles on Elections* Articles 324 - 329 on Elections* Article 329A - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978,
Part XVI - consists of Articles on Special Provisions relating to certain Classes.* Articles 330 - 342 on Reservations
Part XVII - consists of Articles on Official LanguageChapter I - Articles 343 - 344 on Language of the Union* Articles 343 - 344 Official Language of the UnionChapter II - Articles 345 - 347 on Regional Languages* Articles 345 - 347 on Language of the State
Chapter III - Articles 348 - 349 on Language of the Supreme Court, High courts, Etc* Articles 348 - 349 on Language used in Supreme Court, High courts Etc
Chapter IV - Articles 350 - 351 on Special Directives* Article 350 - on Language to be used in representations for redress of grievances.* Article 350A - on Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary stage.* Article 350B - on provision for Special Officer for linguistic minorities.* Article 351 - on Directive for development of the Hindi language.Part XVIII - consists of Articles on Emergency Provisions* Articles 352 - 359 on Emergency Provisions* Article 359A - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Sixty-third Amendment) Act, 1989
* Article 360 - on Provisions as to financial emergency.Part XIX - Miscellaneous* Articles 361 - 361A - Miscellaneous* Article 362 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 1971, * Articles 363 - 367 - Miscellaneous.Part XX - consists of Articles on Amendment of the Constitution* Articles 368 on the Power of parliament to amend the constitution and procedure thereforePart XXI - consists of Articles on Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions* Articles 369 - 378A on Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions* Article 379 - 391 - Repealed - Replaced by the Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act, 1956* Article 392 - on the Power of the President to remove difficulties.Part XXII consists of Articles on short title, date of commencement, Authoritative text in Hindi and Repeals.* Articles 393 - 395 Commencement, authoritative text in Hindi and repeals
# SCHEDULE:-
First Schedule: List of the States and Union Territories in list I & List II
Second Schedule:Consists of 5 Parts A to E. Provision & Salary of President, Governors, Chief Judges, Judges
Of High Court and Supreme Court, Comptroller and Auditor General.Third Schedule: Forms of Oaths and Affirmations.Fourth Schedule: Allocation of seats for each State and Union Territory, in the Council of States.Fifth Schedule:Administration and control of Scheduled Areas.
Sixth Schedule:Provisions for administration of Tribal Area in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram
Seventh Schedule: Gives allocation of powers and functions between Union & States. It contains 3 lists
Union List: 97 Subjects.
States List: 66 subjects
Concurrent List: 47 subjects.
Eighth Schedule:22 languages recognized by the Constitution : 1. Assamese, 2. Bengali, 3. Gujarati, 4. Hindi, 5. Kannada, 6. Kashmiri, 7. Malayalam, 8. Marathi, 9. Oriya, 10. Punjabi, 11. Sanskrit, 12. Sindhi, 13. Tamil, 14. Telugu, 15, Urdu, 16. Konkani, 17. Manipuri, 18. Nepali. 19. Bodo, 20. Dongri 21. Maithili 22. Santhali Ninth Schedule:Contains acts & orders related to land tenure, land tax, railways, and industries.
Tenth Schedule: It contains the Anti-defection Act.Eleventh Schedule: 73rd amendment in 1992.Contains provisions of Panchayati Raj. Twelfth Schedule: 74thamendment in 1992.Contains provisions of Municipal Corporation.
# Important Amendmentsof the Constitution:
The first Amendment Act 1951: Articles 15, 19, 85, 87, 174, 176, 341, 342, and 376 were amended and Articles 31A and 3IB inserted and Ninth Schedule was added.
24th Amendment Act, 1971:It affirmed the power of the Parliament to amend any part of the Constitution. After this amendment, the President is bound to assent to Constitution Amendment Bill. Education was transferred to the Concurrent List by this amendment.
31st Amendment Act, 1973:Increased the elective strength of the Lok Sabha from 525 to 545. Under the Act, the upper limit of representatives of the States goes up from 500 to 525 and that of the Union Territories decreases from 25 to 20.
36th Amendment Act, 1975:Sikkim became the 22nd State of the Indian Union.
37th Amendment Act, 1975:Parliament on April 26, 1975, to provide for a Legislative Assembly and a Council of Ministers to Arunachal Pradesh.
39th Amendment Act, 1975:The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha and received Presidential assent.The Act places beyond challenge in courts the election to Parliament of a person holding the office of Prime Minister or Speaker and the election of President and Vice-President.
40th Amendment Act, 1976:This Amendment has a three-fold objective: (1) It places beyond challenge in courts some major Central laws (2) It gives similar protection to several State enactments, mostly relating to land legislation, by including them in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution; and (3) It provides that the limits of the territorial waters, the Continental Shelf, the Exclusive Economic Zone and the maritime zones of India shall be specified from time to time by law made by Parliament.
42nd Amendment Act, 1976:It was enacted during the period of internal emergency. It was passed by Parliament on November 11, 1976 and received Presidential assent on December 18, 1976.
The Amendment establishedbeyond doubt the supremacy of Parliament over the other wings of Government; gave the Directive Principles precedence over the Fundamental Rights; enumerated for the first time a set of ten Fundamental Duties. It further imposed limits on the power and jurisdiction of the judiciary; raised the term of the Lok Sabha and the Vidhan Sabha from five to six years; authorised the use of Central armed forces in any State to deal with law and order problems, made the President bound by the advice of the Council of Ministers and envisaged the establishment of administrative tribunals for service matters of Government employees and also other tribunals for economic offences. The Act also clearly laid down that no Constitutional Amendment could be questioned in any court of law.
43rd Amendment Act, 1978:It received the Presidential assent on April 13, 1978. This Act repeals the obnoxious provisions of the Constitution (42nd Amendment) Act passed during the Emergency. It restores civil liberties by deleting Article 3ID which gave powers to Parliament to curtail even legitimate trade union activity under the guise of legislation for the prevention of anti-national activities. The new law, which was ratified by more than half of the States in accordance with the Constitution, also restores legislative powers to the States to make appropriate provision for anti-national activities consistent with the Fundamental Rights. Under the Act, the judiciary has also been restored to its rightful place. The Supreme Court will now have power to invalidate State laws, a power taken away by the 42nd Amendment Act. The High Courts will also be able to go into the question of constitutional validity of Central laws thereby enabling persons living in distant places to obtain speedy justice without having to come to the Supreme Court.
44th Amendment Act, 1978: The Act removes major distortions in the Constitution introduced during the Emergency. The duration of the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies has been reduced from six to five yearsthe normal term which was extended during the Emergency under the 42nd Amendment to achieve some political purposes. The Right to Property ceases to be a Fundamental Right and becomes only a legal right. Any proclamation of Emergency need henceforward be issued by the President only after receiving the advice of the Cabinet as a whole in writing. The President will not be called upon to act on the basis of advice by the Prime Minister on his own without consulting his Cabinet. Other safeguards provide that the proclamation will have to be adopted by a two-thirds majority of the members of both Houses of Parliament within a month. Safeguards against future subversion of the Constitution for establishing an authoritarian regime. It contains provisions which are designed to make it impossible to impose the kind of emergency the country had experienced for 19 months.
45th Amendment Act, 1980:Reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in Parliament and the State Assemblies and the representation of Anglo-Indians by nomination for a further period of 10 years.
46th Amendment Bill, 1982:It seeks to authorise the government to prepare an authoritative text of the Constitution, in Hindi.
52nd Amendment Act, 1985:The Act has made defection to another party, after elections illegal. Any member defecting to another party after elections will be disqualified from being Member of Parliament or State Legislature.
53rd Amendment Act, 1986:It confers Statehood on Mizoram and ensures against unnecessary interference by the Central Government with the laws relating to spheres of social relationship and community conduct applicable to Mizoram.
54th Amendment Act, 1986:It enhances the salaries of Judges of High Courts and Supreme Court of India. The salary of Chief Justice of India will be Rs 10,000; Chief Justice of High Courts Rs 9000; Judges of Supreme Court Rs 9000; and Judges of High Courts Rs 8000.
55th Amendment Act, 1987:It grants Statehood to Arunachal Pradesh which consequently became the 24th State of the Indian Union.
56th Amendment Act, 1987:It confers Statehood on Goa and forms a new Union Territory of Daman and Diu. Goa thus became the 25th State of the Indian Republic.
57th Amendment Act, 1987:It made a special provision for the setting up of the new State of Goa. Consequently Daman and Diu were separated from the former to form a Union Territory.
58th Amendment Act, 1988:It provides for special arrangements with regard to reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya. By amending Article 322 the adjustment of seats has been frozen until 2000 A.D.
59th Amendment Act, 1988:It empowered the Central Government to impose Emergency in Punjab when deemed necessary. Under the amendment, Presidents rule can be extended upto three years. Earlier maximum period was two years.
61st Amendment Act, 1989:It lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
62nd Amendment Act, 1989:It provided for the extension by another 10 years of reservation of seats in the Parliament and State Assemblies for the Scheduled Castes and Tribes and reservation for Anglo Indian community by nomination.
66th Amendment Act, 1990:To bring land reforms within the purview of 9th Schedule of the Constitution.69th Amendment Act, 1991:Delhi made National Capital Region. The Act also made provision for Legislative assembly and a council of ministers for Delhi.70th Amendment Act, 1992:Before this act was made Article 54 relating to the election of the President provided for an electoral college consisting only of the elected members of Parliament as well as the legislative assemblies of the States (not of Union Territories). The amendment provide for inclusion of members of legislature of Pondicherry and Delhi.71st Amendment Act, 1992:The act amends the 8th Schedule to the Constitution to include Konkani, Manipuri and Nepali Languages in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
72nd Amendment Act, 1992:To make temporary provision for the determination of the number of seats reserved for the Scheduled Tribes in the State assembly of Tripura, until the re-adjustment of seats is made on the basis of the first census after the year 2000 under article 170 of the Constitution.73rd Amendment Act, 1992:To ensure direct election to all seats in Panchayats; to reserve seats for SCs and STs in proportion to their population; and for reservation of not less than one third of the seats in Panchayats for women.74th Amendment Act, 1992:was made to ensure direct election to all seats in Nagarpalikas and Municipalities.75th Amendment Act 1994:It provides for setting up of State-level Rent Tribunals to exclude the jurisdiction of all courts, except that of the Supreme Court, under Article 136 of the Constitution.76th Amendment Act, 1994:It relates to the Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutes and of appointments or posts in the Services under a State, for Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Supreme Court had ruled on November 16, 1992, that the total reservations under Article 16(40) of the Constitution should not exceed 50 per cent.
77th Amendment Act, 1995:According to this Act, the Government have decided to continue the existing policy of reservation in promotion for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.78th Amendment Act, 1995:It includes land reform laws in the Ninth Schedule so that they cannot be challenged before the courts.79th Amendment Act, 1999:It extends the reservation of seats for SC, ST and Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies for next 10 years.80th Amendment Act, 2000:It deals with an alternative scheme for sharing taxes between the Union and the States.
81st Amendment Act, 2000:It provides that the unfilled vacancies of a year reserved for SC/ST kept for being filled up in a year as per Article 16, shall be considered separately for filling vacancies in the succeeding year and the previous list will not be considered for filling the 50% quota of the respective year.82nd Amendment Act, 2000:It provides that nothing in the Article 355 shall prevent the State from making any provisions in favour of the members of SC/ST for relaxation in qualifying marks with respect to examination/job/promotion.
83rd Amendment Act, 2000: The Act amended Article 243 M to provide that no reservation in Panchayats be made in favour of SC/ST in Arunachal Pradesh where the whole population is tribal.
86th Amendment Act, 2002: Provides Right to Education until the age of 14 and early childhood care until the age of 6.
89th Amendment Act, 2003: The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was bifurcated into The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes.
91st Amendment Act, 2004: Restrict the size of council of ministers to 15% of legislative members & to strengthen Anti Defection laws. Amended articles 75 and 164. Insert article 361B. Amended schedule 10.
97thAmendment Act, 2012: The amendment objective is to encourage economic activities of cooperatives which in turn help progress of rural India. It is expected to not only ensure autonomous and democratic functioning of cooperatives, but also the accountability of the management to the members and other stakeholders
98thAmendment Act, 2013: To empower the Governor of Karnataka to take steps to develop the Hyderabad-Karnataka Region instered Article 371J in the Constitution
# Important Articles of the Indian Constitution:
Art.1- Name and territory of the union. Art.2- Admission and Establishment of the new state. Art.3- Formation of new states and alteration of areas, boundaries, and name of existing States.
Art.5 -Citizenship at the commencement of the constitution. Art.6 -Rights of citizenship of certain person who have migrated to India from Pakistan. Art.10- Continuance of rights of citizenship. Art.11- Parliament to regulate the right of citizenship by law.
Art.13- Laws inconsistent with or in derogation of the fundamental rights. Art.14- Equality before the law. Art.15- Prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex. Or place of Birth. Art.16- Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment. Art.17- Abolition of the untouchability. Art.19- Guarantees to all the citizens the six rights (a) Right to freedom of speech and expression. (b) Right to assemble peacefully and without arms. (c) Right to form associations or unions. (d) Right to move freely throughout the territory of India. (e) Right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India. (f) Right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade, and business. Art.20- Protection in respect of conviction for offences. Art.21- Protection of life and personal liberty. Art.22- Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases. Art.23- Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour. Art.24- Prohibition of employment of children in factories and mines. Under age of 14. Art.25- Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion. Art.26- Freedom to manage religious affairs. Art.27- Freedom as to pay taxes for promotion of any particular religion. Art.28- Freedom from attending religious instruction. Art.29- Protection of interest of minorities. Art.30- Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.. Art.32- Remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights. Art.37- Application of DPSP Art.39A-Equal justice and free legal aid Art.40- Organization of village panchayat Art.41- Right to work, to education, and to public assistance in certain cases Art.43- Living Wages, etc. for Workers. Art.43A- Participation of workers in management of industries. Art.44- Uniform civil code. (Applicable in Goa only) Art.45- Provision for free and compulsory education for children. Art.46- Promotion of educational and economic interest of scheduled castes, ST, and OBC. Art.47-Duty of the state to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health. Art.48-Organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry. Art.49- Protection of monuments and places and objects of natural importance. Art.50- Separation of judiciary from executive. Art.51- Promotion of international peace and security. . Art 51A It contains, originally 10 duties, now it contains 11 duties by 86thamendments act 2002. Art.52- The President of India Art.53- Executive Power of the union. Art.54- Election of President Art.61- Procedure for Impeachment of the President. Art.63- The Vice-president of India. Art.64- The Vice-President to be ex-officio chairmans the council of States. Art.66-Election of Vice-president. Art.72-Pradoning powers of President. Art.74- Council of minister to aid and advice President. Art.76- Attorney-General for India. Art.79- Constitution of Parliament Art.80- Composition of Rajya Sabha. Art.81- Composition of Lok Sabha. Art.83- Duration of Houses of Parliament. Art.93- The speakers and Deputy Speakers of the house of the people. Art.105- Powers, Privileges, etc of the House of Parliament. Art.109- Special procedure in respects of money bills Art.110- Definition of Money Bills. Art.112- Annual Financial Budget. Art.114-Appropriation Bills. Art.123- Powers of the President to promulgate Ordinances during recess of parliament. Art.124- Establishment of Supreme Court. Art.125- Salaries of Judges. Art.126- Appointment of acting Chief justice. Art.127- Appointment of ad-hoc judges. Art.128-Attendence of retired judge at sitting of the Supreme Court. Art.129- Supreme court to be court of Record. Art.130- Seat of the Supreme Court. Art.136- Special leaves for appeal to the Supreme Court. Art.137- Review of judgments or orders by the Supreme court. Art.141-Decision of the Supreme Court binding on all the courts. Art.148- Comptroller and Auditor- General of India Art.149- Duties and Powers of CAG. Art.153- Governors of State Art.154- Executive Powers of Governor. Art.161- Pardoning powers of the Governor. Art.165-Advocate-General of the State. Art.213- Power of Governor to promulgate ordinances. Art.214- High Courts for states. Art.215- High Courts to be court of record. Art.226- Power of High Courts to issue certain writs. Art.233- Appointment of District judges. Art.235- Control over Sub-ordinate Courts. Art.243A-Gram Sabha Art.243B-Constitution of Panchayats Art.280- Finance Commission Art.300-A- Right to property. Art.301-Freedom to trade, commerce, and intercourse. Art.302- Power of Parliament to impose restrictions on trade, commerce, and intercourse. Art.312- All- India-Service. Art.315- Public service commissions for the union and for the states Art.320- Functions of Public Service Commission. Art.323A- Administrative Tribunals Art.324-Superintendence, direction and control of Elections to be vested in an Election Commission. Art.325- No person to be ineligible for inclusion in or to claim to be included in a special, electoral roll on
Grounds of religion, race, caste, or sex. Art.326- Elections to the house of the people and to the legislative assemblies of states to be on the basis of
Adult suffrage. Art.338- National Commission for the SC, & ST. Art.340- Appointment of a commission to investigate the conditions of backward classes. Art.343- Official languages of the Union. Art.345- Official languages or languages of states. Art.348- Languages to be used in the Supreme Court and in the High Courts. Art.351-Directive for development of the Hindi languages. Art.352- Proclamation of emergency (National Emergency). Art.356- State Emergency Art.360- Financial Emergency Art.361- Protection of President and Governors Art.368- Powers of Parliaments to amend the constitution. Art.370- Special provision of J&K.
****************************** THE END********************************
By Jawed Iqubal
References: 1. Our Constitution by Subhash Kashyap
2. The Constitution of Indian by P.M. Bakshi
3. Www. http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html
Constitutionally Important Supreme Court Judgements
* I. C. Golaknath Vs. State of Punjab Case: Year 1967
* Case was about validity of amendment of Punjab Land Security Act 1053 and Mysore Land Reforms Act. Moreover this amendment was included in ninth schedule of constitution by Seventieth Amendment Act, 1964. Petitioners challenged this amendment under Article 32 of constitution. Constitutional Bench comprising of 11 judges headed by then Chief Justice of SC was to decide on whether Fundamental Rights intended to be permanently unamendable.
* Bench with 6-5 pronounced ruling that Amendments to Fundamental Rights are outside purview of Parliament. Constituent Assembly has to be formed in order to change part(s) of Fundamental Rights or Article 368 of Indian Constitution.
* Bench said Fundamental Rights are given transcendental position in Indian Constitution and has been kept out of reach of Parliament. Even during emergency, Article 19 stands to be suspended by Article 358 while all other fundamental rights are available except those specifically suspended by President under Article 359 while proclaiming emergency.
* Article 13 is not source of protection of fundamental rights but is expression of reservation. No matter how well intentioned policy unanimously enacted by Parliament but if it abridges any article residing under Part IIIthen it would be declared as void.
* It is parliaments duty to enforce directive principles policy without affecting ambit of fundamental rights.
* Article 368 merely prescribes procedure for amendment of constitution; it cant be source of power to amend constitution. Article 368 is not itself complete code for amendment procedure.
* In this case, court used doctrine of prospective overruling in which court finds the law; but it doesnt give retroactive effect. Due to this doctrine, judgment pronounced by this bench would only bar future laws aimed to take away fundamental rights; it would not affect validity of Seventieth Amendment, 1964 or any past acts related to infringement of Fundamental Rights.
* Kesavananda Bharati Vs. State of Kerala: Year 1973
* Kesavananda filed case against Kerala states attempt to restrict management of property under its two land reforms acts. This case judgement overruled earlier Golaknath case judgement. It was heard by largest constitutional bench. Judgement was held by 7-6 margin.
* SC held that amendment to constitution is not law itself.
* Important view adopted by SC in this case was parliament could amend any part of constitution unless it didnt alter/amend the basic structure or essential features of constitution.
* During the time when this case was surfaced in Supreme Court, there was culmination of conflict between Judiciary and Government.
* By this landmark judgement Supreme Court came as saviour to constitution from totalitarian encroachment of constitution by Parliament. SC pronounced constitution superior over Parliament.
* Basic Structure Doctrine adopted by SC in this judgement preserved democracy in India.
* Since then, SC adopted Basic Structure Doctrine in subsequent cases.
* Another important proposition adopted by SC is that though preamble isnt part of constitution, basic structure of constitution can be derived from Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles.
* Features of Basic Structure Doctrine adopted by SC can be derived from different judgments delivered by court since pronouncement of this doctrine. Basic features are sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, the federal system, judicial review, Parliamentary system of government, Reasonableness, Freedom and Dignity of individual, Fair Election, Secularism, Rule of Law, Equality, Social and Economical Justice, Judicial Review.
* SC also upheld validity of clause (4) of Article 13 and corresponding provision of Article 368(3) which reads as follows: Nothing in this article (article 13) shall apply to any amendment made under article 368.
* Due to validity of Article 13(4), even fundamental rights can be amended by Parliament as long as it doesnt alter/amend basic foundation of constitution.
* Thus, amendment under Article 368, means only changes other than altering the basic structure of constitution.
* Minerva Mills Ltd. Vs Union of India: Year 1980
* Due to low productivity, Government took over management of Minerva Mills Ltd under Sick Textiles Understanding (Nationalization) Act 1974. Company questioned validity of this act in Supreme Court.
* SC held that any act of parliament cant take away judicial review as it is basic feature of constitution and there shall be limit to power of parliament to amend the constitution.
* Basic Doctrine initiated by Kesavananda Case was evolved and utilised in this case.
* Parliament cant expand its amending power under Article 368 so as to repeal or abrogate the constitution or any amending act which violates basic structure of it.
* Three articles namely Article 14, 19 and 21 are heaven of freedoms which take precedence over directive principles. Therefore any clause/act prioritising directive principle over these articles is to be void or unconstitutional.
* Maneka Gandhi Vs Union of India: Year 1978
* Maneka Gandhi filed case against Government of India over impounding her passport.
* Before this case, Supreme Court prevailed view that there was no guarantee in constitution against arbitrary legislation encroaching upon personal liberty under Article 21.
* Decision of Government was challenged under violation of Article 14, 19 and 21. Supreme Court said that Article 19 and 21 are not water-tight or alienated components.
* Personal Liberty is not just right to life but it is of wildest amplitude covering variety of basic rights to live with dignity. Due to this definition, there may be overlapping between Article 19 and 21.
* Thus, law must satisfy both article provisions same time. In this case, Governments order violated the principle of natural justice by not giving affected person an opportunity to be heard or represent against the order.
* From this case, Supreme Court enlarged scope of Article 21. It held that right to life as interpreted in Article 21 means something more than survival or animal existence and would include the right to live with human dignity.
* Adopting liberal interpretation the Supreme Court has read several rights in Article 21 to make life more meaningful and worth living.
* SC said isolation of various aspects of human freedom, for purposes of their protection, is neither realistic nor beneficial but would defeat very objects of such protection.
* SC based their liberal view of life in Blackstones theory of natural rights. Thus, partiality among natural rights and constitutional rights is not in interest of constitution,
* Since the rule of natural rights is calculated to secure justice, it must be logically applied to quasi-judicial and administrative enquiry.
* SC said that the reasonableness of a restriction depends upon the values of life in a society, the circumstances obtaining at a particular point of time when the restriction is imposed, the degree and the urgency of the evil sought to be controlled.
* S. R. Bommai Vs Union of India Case: Year 1991
* Petition was filed by S R Bommai against Presidency rule proclamation in Karnataka under recommendation of Governor. SC heard this petition along with other petitions filed regarding president rule in different states.
* This case challenged misuse of Article 356 and interpreted Centre-State relations. It refined federal character of constitution.
* After this verdict court may interfere if the proclamation is mala fide or the reasons disclosed for making proclamation have no reasonable nexus with the satisfaction of the President.
* Court said that proclamation must have materialistic basis or essence of relevance of failure of the constitutional machinery.
* SC held that Governors recommendation to proclaim President rule in state alone is not basis of failure of administrative machinery in respective state.
* From this case, SC tactically curtailed misuse of powers of Article 356 and preserve federal character in constitution.
* SC said that if proclamation is invalid on ground of reasonableness or lack of materialistic basis, then even parliament approval to it would not change it into valid order.
* Court held that it will have power by an interim injunction, to restrain the holding of fresh elections to the Legislative Assembly pending the final disposal of the challenge to the validity of the proclamation.
* The views expressed by Supreme Court in this judgement are largely similar to concerns shown by Sarkaria Commission.
By Kunjal Shah
* List of References:
1. Introduction to Constitution of India Author: D D Basu
2. http://www.indiankanoon.org/
3. http://www.thehindu.com/
* Case was about validity of amendment of Punjab Land Security Act 1053 and Mysore Land Reforms Act. Moreover this amendment was included in ninth schedule of constitution by Seventieth Amendment Act, 1964. Petitioners challenged this amendment under Article 32 of constitution. Constitutional Bench comprising of 11 judges headed by then Chief Justice of SC was to decide on whether Fundamental Rights intended to be permanently unamendable.
* Bench with 6-5 pronounced ruling that Amendments to Fundamental Rights are outside purview of Parliament. Constituent Assembly has to be formed in order to change part(s) of Fundamental Rights or Article 368 of Indian Constitution.
* Bench said Fundamental Rights are given transcendental position in Indian Constitution and has been kept out of reach of Parliament. Even during emergency, Article 19 stands to be suspended by Article 358 while all other fundamental rights are available except those specifically suspended by President under Article 359 while proclaiming emergency.
* Article 13 is not source of protection of fundamental rights but is expression of reservation. No matter how well intentioned policy unanimously enacted by Parliament but if it abridges any article residing under Part IIIthen it would be declared as void.
* It is parliaments duty to enforce directive principles policy without affecting ambit of fundamental rights.
* Article 368 merely prescribes procedure for amendment of constitution; it cant be source of power to amend constitution. Article 368 is not itself complete code for amendment procedure.
* In this case, court used doctrine of prospective overruling in which court finds the law; but it doesnt give retroactive effect. Due to this doctrine, judgment pronounced by this bench would only bar future laws aimed to take away fundamental rights; it would not affect validity of Seventieth Amendment, 1964 or any past acts related to infringement of Fundamental Rights.
* Kesavananda Bharati Vs. State of Kerala: Year 1973
* Kesavananda filed case against Kerala states attempt to restrict management of property under its two land reforms acts. This case judgement overruled earlier Golaknath case judgement. It was heard by largest constitutional bench. Judgement was held by 7-6 margin.
* SC held that amendment to constitution is not law itself.
* Important view adopted by SC in this case was parliament could amend any part of constitution unless it didnt alter/amend the basic structure or essential features of constitution.
* During the time when this case was surfaced in Supreme Court, there was culmination of conflict between Judiciary and Government.
* By this landmark judgement Supreme Court came as saviour to constitution from totalitarian encroachment of constitution by Parliament. SC pronounced constitution superior over Parliament.
* Basic Structure Doctrine adopted by SC in this judgement preserved democracy in India.
* Since then, SC adopted Basic Structure Doctrine in subsequent cases.
* Another important proposition adopted by SC is that though preamble isnt part of constitution, basic structure of constitution can be derived from Preamble, Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles.
* Features of Basic Structure Doctrine adopted by SC can be derived from different judgments delivered by court since pronouncement of this doctrine. Basic features are sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, the federal system, judicial review, Parliamentary system of government, Reasonableness, Freedom and Dignity of individual, Fair Election, Secularism, Rule of Law, Equality, Social and Economical Justice, Judicial Review.
* SC also upheld validity of clause (4) of Article 13 and corresponding provision of Article 368(3) which reads as follows: Nothing in this article (article 13) shall apply to any amendment made under article 368.
* Due to validity of Article 13(4), even fundamental rights can be amended by Parliament as long as it doesnt alter/amend basic foundation of constitution.
* Thus, amendment under Article 368, means only changes other than altering the basic structure of constitution.
* Minerva Mills Ltd. Vs Union of India: Year 1980
* Due to low productivity, Government took over management of Minerva Mills Ltd under Sick Textiles Understanding (Nationalization) Act 1974. Company questioned validity of this act in Supreme Court.
* SC held that any act of parliament cant take away judicial review as it is basic feature of constitution and there shall be limit to power of parliament to amend the constitution.
* Basic Doctrine initiated by Kesavananda Case was evolved and utilised in this case.
* Parliament cant expand its amending power under Article 368 so as to repeal or abrogate the constitution or any amending act which violates basic structure of it.
* Three articles namely Article 14, 19 and 21 are heaven of freedoms which take precedence over directive principles. Therefore any clause/act prioritising directive principle over these articles is to be void or unconstitutional.
* Maneka Gandhi Vs Union of India: Year 1978
* Maneka Gandhi filed case against Government of India over impounding her passport.
* Before this case, Supreme Court prevailed view that there was no guarantee in constitution against arbitrary legislation encroaching upon personal liberty under Article 21.
* Decision of Government was challenged under violation of Article 14, 19 and 21. Supreme Court said that Article 19 and 21 are not water-tight or alienated components.
* Personal Liberty is not just right to life but it is of wildest amplitude covering variety of basic rights to live with dignity. Due to this definition, there may be overlapping between Article 19 and 21.
* Thus, law must satisfy both article provisions same time. In this case, Governments order violated the principle of natural justice by not giving affected person an opportunity to be heard or represent against the order.
* From this case, Supreme Court enlarged scope of Article 21. It held that right to life as interpreted in Article 21 means something more than survival or animal existence and would include the right to live with human dignity.
* Adopting liberal interpretation the Supreme Court has read several rights in Article 21 to make life more meaningful and worth living.
* SC said isolation of various aspects of human freedom, for purposes of their protection, is neither realistic nor beneficial but would defeat very objects of such protection.
* SC based their liberal view of life in Blackstones theory of natural rights. Thus, partiality among natural rights and constitutional rights is not in interest of constitution,
* Since the rule of natural rights is calculated to secure justice, it must be logically applied to quasi-judicial and administrative enquiry.
* SC said that the reasonableness of a restriction depends upon the values of life in a society, the circumstances obtaining at a particular point of time when the restriction is imposed, the degree and the urgency of the evil sought to be controlled.
* S. R. Bommai Vs Union of India Case: Year 1991
* Petition was filed by S R Bommai against Presidency rule proclamation in Karnataka under recommendation of Governor. SC heard this petition along with other petitions filed regarding president rule in different states.
* This case challenged misuse of Article 356 and interpreted Centre-State relations. It refined federal character of constitution.
* After this verdict court may interfere if the proclamation is mala fide or the reasons disclosed for making proclamation have no reasonable nexus with the satisfaction of the President.
* Court said that proclamation must have materialistic basis or essence of relevance of failure of the constitutional machinery.
* SC held that Governors recommendation to proclaim President rule in state alone is not basis of failure of administrative machinery in respective state.
* From this case, SC tactically curtailed misuse of powers of Article 356 and preserve federal character in constitution.
* SC said that if proclamation is invalid on ground of reasonableness or lack of materialistic basis, then even parliament approval to it would not change it into valid order.
* Court held that it will have power by an interim injunction, to restrain the holding of fresh elections to the Legislative Assembly pending the final disposal of the challenge to the validity of the proclamation.
* The views expressed by Supreme Court in this judgement are largely similar to concerns shown by Sarkaria Commission.
By Kunjal Shah
* List of References:
1. Introduction to Constitution of India Author: D D Basu
2. http://www.indiankanoon.org/
3. http://www.thehindu.com/
Comparison of Indian Constitutional Scheme with Other Countries for GS
Comparison of Indian Constitutional Scheme with Other Countries for GS 2
PROLOGUE
1. United States of America
1. President of USA
2. Vice President
3. Congress
(a) House of Representatives
(b) Senate
1.4 Supreme Court of USA
1.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-USAs Political Systems.
1. United Kingdom
2.1 Monarchy of UK
2.2 Her Majesty's Government
(a) Prime Minister
2.3 British Parliament
(a) House of Commons
(b) House of Lords
2.4 Supreme Court of UK
2.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-UKs Political Systems.
1. France
3.1 President of the France
3.2 Prime Minister
3. Parliament of France
1. National Assembly
2. Senate
3. Judiciary of France
3. Comparison b/w INDIA-FRANCEs Political Systems.
1. Germany
4.1 President of Germany
4.2 Federal Chancellor
4.3 The Bundestag
4.4 The Bundesrat
4.5 Judiciary of Germany
4.6 Comparison b/w INDIA-GERMANYs Political Systems
1. Switzerland
5.1 The Federal Council
5.2 President of the Confederation
5.3 Federal Assembly
(a) National Council
(b) Council of States
5.4 The Federal Supreme Court
5.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-SWITZERLANDs Political Systems
1. China
6.1 President of China
6.2 Vice- President
6.3 State Council
6.4 Premier
6.5 The National People's Congress
(a) NPC Standing Committee
6.6 Supreme People's Court
6.7 Comparison b/w INDIA-CHINAs Political Systems
{NOTE:
* The best way of reading would be by keeping parallels in mind e.g. when reading US president keep in mind his Indian counterpart or when reading German Chancellor keep in mind Indian PM.
* Wherever comparisons are used e.g. Senate>Rajya Sabha, it doesnt means that Senate can overpower Rajya Sabha, it means that the powers of Senate in US are greater than that are enjoyed by Rajya Sabha in India.
United States of America
American constitution is the oldest among existing written constitutions of the world. It was drafted by the constitutional convention, the Philadelphia Convention (1787).
It is federal presidential democratic republic.
[But what is federal system of government?
In a truly federal state, power is divided b/w federal govt (at the centre) and its constituent units as specified in constitution.
But the most imp feature of federal state is that sovereignty is divided b/w the centre and the states. There is not one but many centre of sovereignty in a federal country.
Other important attributes are-dual citizenship; supremacy of constitution; Supreme Authority for interpreting constitution and deciding conflicts b/w centre and states.]
Provision of Checks and Balance
The principle of checks and balances was applied to provide against a water-tight compartmentalisation and to ensure no despotism.
* Thus law making power of congress is checked by presidents veto and Supreme Courts power of interpreting laws and declaring them ultra vires if they contradict the provisions of the constitution.
* President is checked by the fact that he cannot spend money without the approval of Senate; that he can be impeached by the congress; that he cant make appointments without the approval of senate and treaties negotiated by him cannot become effective until they are ratified by senate.
* The Judiciary is checked by the fact that Congress can determine the no. of judges and fix their salaries; that President and Senate together appoint judges and Congress can impeach judges.
* PRESIDENT
President of USA is head of the state and head of the government. He is commander-in-chief of armed forces, head of national economic programme and spokesman for all Americans.
1. He is the Chief Executive, the official charged with supervising the activities of all Americans in the national administration.
2. He has been commanded by law to prepare the govts annual budget, to set rules for civil service and to encourage efficient administrative practices.
3. With the advice and consent of senate, President appoints ambassadors, other public officials and counsels, judges of Supreme Court.
4. He is also director of American foreign policy; however, treaties and diplomatic appointments must be confirmed by Senate.
5. He is closely associated with work of congress. The constitution requires him to recommend to congress such measures as he judges necessary and expedient and grants him qualified power of veto.
[Qualified power of veto whenever he thinks that the bill passed by congress is unwise or unconstitutional, he may return the bill without his signature or retain it unsigned= pocket veto the bill cannot become law of the land.
But if both chambers of the Congress pass the bill by 2/3 majority then it becomes law without the President's signature.]
ELECTION The President of US is elected from an indirect election i.e. not by voters directly but by an electoral college whose electors are chosen by the voters of the state.
In other words, voters in each state select a slate of electors from a list of several slates designated by different political parties and those electors promise in advance to vote for presidential candidates of those political parties.
VICE-PRESIDENT
The Vice President is the second-highest executive official in rank of the government. The Vice President becomes President upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President. Under the Constitution, the Vice President is ex-officio President of the Senate. By virtue of this role, he or she is the head of the Senate. In that capacity, the Vice President is allowed to vote in the Senate, but only when necessary to break a tie vote. Due to the 12th Amendment, the Vice President presides over the joint session of Congress.
1. CONGRESS
It has two chambers
1. House of Representative
2. Senate
POWERS OF CONGRESS These include
* the powers to levy and collect taxes;
* to coin money and regulate its value;
* provide for punishment for counterfeiting and felony;
* establish post offices and roads;
* create federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court;
* declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, make rules for the regulation of land and naval forces, provide for, arm and discipline the militia;
* Make laws necessary to properly execute these powers.
The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people
IMPEACHMENT OF FEDERAL OFFICERSCongress has the power to impeach the President, federal judges, and other federal officers from office.
Both houses have separate roles in this process. The House of representative must first vote to impeach the official. Then, a trial is held in the Senate to decide whether the official should be removed from office which acts like a court. When an Impeachment process involves a U.S. President, the Chief Justice of the United States is required to preside during the Senate trial. In all other trials, the Vice President would preside in his capacity as President of the Senate.
CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHTthis is near similar to the work done by standing and business committees in India except Congress is more powerful and does wide variety of functions. Congressional oversight is intended to prevent waste of resources and fraud, to protect civil liberties and individual rights and ensure executive compliance with the law. It applies to cabinet departments, executive agencies, regulatory commissions and the presidency.
* HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES It is the lower house of the Congress. The House consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of representatives each state has in the House is based on each state's population, unlike senate; here proportional representation has been followed.
ELECTION the qualifications for being elected as the member
An individual must be at least 25 years of age, and must have been a U.S. citizen for at least 7 years standing. Each representative is elected for period of 2 years.
In addition to the 435 voting members, there are 6 non-voting members, consisting of 5 delegates and one resident commissioner. There is one delegate each from the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the resident commissioner from Puerto Rico.
SPECIAL POWERS All legislative bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives.
B. SENATE It is the upper house of American Congress. Though unlike upper houses of other countries, Senate is co-ordinate and co-equal with House of Representatives and , in addition, vested with imp special powers.
ELECTION The Constitution empowers the Senate to be the judge of the elections, returns and qualification of its members. Senate has 100 members from 50 states (50*2) with 1/3 of members retiring every 2 years. Until the 17th amendment to US constitution in 1913, senators were elected by state legislatures and not by electorate of the states. Each senator is elected for 6 years.
The qualifications for being a senator an individual should be at least 30 years of age, must be a citizen of USA of 9 years standing and must be the inhabitant of the state from which he is elected.
The Senate can by majority vote refuse to allow a duly elected member from taking his seat.
SPECIAL POWERS the Senate must give "advice and consent" to many important Presidential appointments, including cabinet officers, federal judges (including nominees to the Supreme Court), department secretaries (heads of federal executive branch departments), U.S. military and naval officers, and ambassadors to foreign countries
* SUPREME COURT
Supreme Court of US enjoys immense prestige and the people of America take pride in calling it the most august tribunal on earth. Its position as the final interpreter of the constitution has come to be universally accepted and through the exercise of this power, the SC acts as an umpire of constitutional conflicts and as the protector of the
FINAL INTERPRETER OF THE CONSTITUTION SC has assumed the position of final interpreter of constitution and it is on the basis of this position that the SC has built up the Doctrine of Judicial Supremacy. This position of SC has never been successfully challenged.
JUDICIAL REVIEW The practice of judicial review --- is the most important function and distinctive attribute of the SC. Judicial Review is the right of SC and also of subordinate federal courts to examine the laws passed by the federal & state legislatures with a view to determining whether or not they are in consonance with constitution of US. If SC feels that a law under examination contravenes any provision, it declares the law ultra vires and unconstitutional.
Judicial Review, it should be remembered, does not only apply to federal & state statutes. It has a wider scope and covers the constitution of states, treaties made by federal govt and executive orders issued by federal & state executive authorities.
The Judiciary Act of 1789 subdivided the nation jurisdictionally into judicial districts and created federal courts for each district. The three tiered structure of this act established the basic structure of the national judiciary: the Supreme Court, 13 courts of appeals, 94 district courts but Congress retains the power to re-organize and even abolish federal courts lower than the SC under the act.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-USAs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIAUSAINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresFederal State
PresidentNominal HeadReal HeadWhile in Indian president is a rubber stamp of govt, US president is Chief-executive of govt.
Vice-PresidentYesYes
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadNoPM in parliamentary democracy with majority in both houses can be more powerful (can do whatever he wants) than US president.
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Republic
Form of GovernmentParliamentary systemPresidential system
Lower HouseLok SabhaHouse of RepresentativeLok Sabha>House of Representatives, in its functions
Upper HouseRajya SabhaSenateSenate>Rajya Sabha, in its functions.
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionYes, through Constitutional provisions and Civil Rights Act.
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtThe Supreme Court of US is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Supremacy is followed.SC of India subordinates all High Courts but SC of US exercise lesser control over State Supreme Courts. SSC are the final authority on the interpretation of the applicable state's laws and state's Constitution (dual sovereignty).
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.In US, Each state has its own written constitution, and code of laws. The 10th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the federal government from exercising any power not delegated to it by the States in the Constitution (fully autonomous).
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyPolitically neutral institution
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemThough not provided in the Constitution, in practice Two-Party System prevails, with some other parties with relatively minor representation.
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN IRELAND
UK has a Constitutional Monarchy and unitary democracy. It has no Written Constitution. Its government is known as Her Majestys Government. It functions through Unwritten Constitution which is sum total of Historical Written Laws, Court Judgements, parliamentary constitutional conventions and Treaties.
Under the unwritten British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
In UK, Parliament is Supreme law making body and Courts dont exercise Judicial Review over laws passed by the Parliament hence Parliamentary Supremacy.
One consequence of the principle of parliamentary sovereignty is that there is no hierarchy among Acts of Parliament: all parliamentary legislation is, in principle, of equal validity and effectiveness unlike India, where Constitutional law > non-Constitutional law.
* RULE OF LAW The protector of peoples liberties in UK is Rule of Law. As a basic principle of British Constitutional System, the rule of law means that the exercise of powers of govt shall be conditioned by law and that the subject shall not be exposed to arbitrary will of his rule.
That is to say, no man can be punished or made suffer in body or goods (imprisoned or fined) except if it is established in the ordinary legal manner and before the court of law that he is guilty of a breach of law.
* EQUALITY BEFORE LAW It implies that no one is above the law. With the sole exception of Monarch who can do no wrong, everyone in UK, whether the PM or Constable is under same responsibility for every act done without legal justification. This rule is subject to certain exceptions.
* UNITARY STATE The UK includes 4 countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but it is a unitary state and though Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have legislatures and executives, the authority of all these bodies are dependent on Acts of Parliament and that they can be abolished at the will of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. England and Wales share the same legal system, while Scotland and Northern Ireland both has its own distinct legal system.
[But what is unitary state?
In unitary state, the ultimate authority and control over all affairs of the govt and administration rests with the central govt, which may create such provinces & sub-divisions for the sake of administrative convenience and confer upon them such powers as it deems fit.]
* MONARCHY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
The British Sovereign has no effective or real powers. She has that glory that belongs to a hereditary monarch. She wears the crown on great official occasions. But there is no power behind her glory and dignity. She reigns but does not rule.
In all her official functions, she acts on the advice of council of ministers; which means after all, that she has to do what they tell her to do. She may exercise her right to be informed, to encourage and warn. This is known as Royal Prerogative. The Sovereign advices and minister decides. No British Sovereign since Queen Victoria (1892) has made a serious effort to take a direct hand in administration. The Sovereign's role as a constitutional monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions, such as granting honours, performance of opening ceremonies and holding receptions emissaries.
POWERS She exercises 2 types of powers.
* INTERNAL These include power to-
* dismiss and appoint a Prime Minister & other ministers;
* summon and prorogue Parliament;
* grant or refuse Royal Assent to bills (making them valid and law);
* appoint members to the Queen's Council;
* command the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom;
* grant Prerogative of mercy;
* create corporations via Royal Charter;
* Appoint bishops and archbishops of the Church of England.
* EXTERNAL These include power to-
* ratify and make treaties;
* declare War and Peace;
* deploy the Armed Forces overseas;
As in the case of Indian President, British Sovereign exercises all of this power with the advice of council of ministers
.
* GOVERNMENT of the UK
Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the UK.
As in India, the Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the other Ministers of the Cabinet.
In accordance with constitutional convention, all ministers within the government are either Members of Parliament or peers in the House of Lords. The executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the PM and the Cabinet. The Government is required by convention to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons.
PRIME MINISTER OF UK
PM is appointed by the Monarch. The most important power still personally exercised by the Monarch is the choice of whom to appoint Prime Minister, this is done, in the case of hung Parliament, after negotiations and usually leader of party with most no. of seats in House of Commons is chosen.
PM is the de facto leader of Her Majesty's Government, and exercises executive functions that are nominally vested in the sovereign.
* PARLIAMENT OF UK OF GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN IRELAND
British Parliament is the supreme legislative body in the UK. It has been called the mother of parliaments, its democratic institutions having set the standards for many democracies throughout the world including India.
In theory, supreme legislative power is vested in the Queen-in-Parliament but in practice, real power is vested in the House of Commons since the House of Lords is subordinate to Commons. Royal Assent of the Monarch is required for all Bills to become law.
[As in India, Parliament= President + Lok Sabha + Rajya Sabha.
British Parliament = the Monarch+ the House of Lords + the House of Commons.]
Dissolution of parliament the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, removed the Royal Prerogative to dissolve Parliament. Now Dissolution of parliament occurs only when British PM loses vote of confidence or 2/3 of the members of the House of Commons vote to hold an early election.
After each Parliament dissolves, the Crown issues writs to hold a general election and elect new members of the House of Commons but membership of the House of Lords does not change due to dissolution.
It has two chambers
* House of Commons
* House of Lords
FUNCTIONS OF BRITISH PARLIAMENT
Laws are made by the UK Parliament. A bill can be introduced by any member of either House, but usually a bill is introduced by a Minister of the Crown. The House of Lords neither initiate nor debate financial bill.
A bill introduced by a Minister is known as a "Government Bill"; and one that is introduced by another member is called a "Private Member's Bill".
Parliamentary procedure of passing bills is about similar to India except the institution of Speaker of House of Commons.
* HOUSE OF COMMONSThe British House of Commons is the oldest popular legislative body in the world. The House consists of 650 MPs each of whom represents a parliamentary constituency.
ELECTIONS- The qualifications for being elected as the member
SPECIAL POWERS The House of Commons is legally omnipotent chamber. Financial bills can only be initiated, debated and passed in Commons.
All legislation must be passed by the House of Commons to become law and it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government. Government ministers (including the PM) must regularly answer questions in the House of Commons.
SPEAKER The House of Commons transacts its business with the Speaker on the chair. The Speaker, presiding officer of the house, holds one of the most honourable, dignified and onerous offices in the world. She/he is elected by the House of Commons.
Unlike India, upon his election to the chair, he cuts his party affiliations and becomes embodiment of impartiality. He controls the debate and maintains order in the house. He is the guardian of the rights and liberties of the House of Commons.
He is nominated by the govt of the day but while in office, they act with strict impartiality.
* HOUSE OF LORDS The House of Lords is the chamber that is subordinate to the House of Commons. The Lords currently has around 830 Members. Historically Lords performed judicial functions as highest court of the land but the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 abolished of the judicial functions of the House of Lords with the creation of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in October 2009.
ELECTIONS The house consists of two very different types of member, the Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual.
Lords Temporal these includes 2 types -
* appointed members (life peers with no hereditary right for their descendants to sit in the house as oppose to hereditary peers,) appointed by Crown on aid and advice of cabinet, their number is variable and
* 92 remaining hereditary peers, elected from among, and by, the holders of titles which previously gave a seat in the House of Lords.
Lords Spiritual these represents the established Church of England and are 26 in number: the Five Ancient Sees (Canterbury, York, London, Winchester and Durham), and the 21 next-most senior bishops.
POWERS All bills except money bills are debated and voted upon in House of Lords. The House of Lords acts to review legislation passed by the House of Commons, with the power to propose amendments, and can exercise a temporary veto. This allows it to delay legislation if it does not approve it for 12 months (by voting against a bill, the House of Lords can only delay it for a maximum of two parliamentary sessions over a year).
After this time, the House of Commons can force the Bill through, without the Lords' consent under the Parliament Acts. Usually governments accept changes in legislation in order to avoid the time delay.
The House of Lords cannot veto major manifesto promises (Salisbury convention). However the Lords still retain a full veto in acts which would extend the life of Parliament beyond the 5 year term limit.
* JUDICIARY OF UK
The judiciary of UK is not unified. Each of the separate legal systems in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has their own judiciary. However, the judges of the Supreme Court of the UK do have a jurisdiction over whole of the United Kingdom.
SC is headed by the President and Deputy President of the Supreme Court and is composed of a further 10 Justices of the Supreme Court.
Unlike other functional democracies, SC of UK doesnt exercise judicial review over the law passed by parliament.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-UKs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIAUKINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresUnitary State with Constitutional Monarchy
President/MonarchNominal HeadNominal Head
Vice-PresidentYesNo
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadReal Head
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Monarchy
GovernmentParliamentary systemParliamentary systemSpeaker of House of Commons is much more powerful and efficient in maintaining order in the house than Lok Sabha Speaker.
Lower HouseLok SabhaHouse of CommonsUK being a unitary state, House of Commons > Lok Sabha, in its functions.
Upper HouseRajya SabhaHouse of LordsRajya Sabha = House of Lords, regarding financial bills in some respects but Rajya Sabha > House of Lords regarding non-money bills.
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionYes, through Rule of Law
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High Court SC of UK doesnt exercise judicial review over the law passed by parliamentSC of India > SC of UK, in its functions.
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.In UK, devolution of powers has taken place, but Legislation creating devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed or amended by central government in the same way as any ordinary statute.
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallya permanent politically neutral organisation
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemTwo-Party System
REPUBLIC OF FRANCE
Fifth Republic of France is a democratic republic, in which the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
* PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF FRANCE
The President of the France is the head of state. He is also supreme commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces and the ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He is the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity and observance of treaties.
He enjoys wide range of power. He has the power to choose the Prime Minister. However, since the National Assembly has the sole power to dismiss the PM's government, the president has to name a prime minister who can command the support of a majority in the assembly. He cannot dismiss PM. The French President wields significant influence especially in the fields of national security and foreign policy.
OTHER POWERS The President may:
* Dissolve the French National Assembly;
* Refer treaties or certain types of laws to popular referendum, within certain conditions.
* Grant pardon to convicted criminals.
He names and dismisses the other ministers, with the agreement of the Prime minister. He presides over the Council of Ministers. He nominates certain members of the Constitutional Council.
All decisions of the president must be countersigned by the Prime minister and, where required, by the appropriate ministers.
ELECTION The President is elected directly through universal suffrage for 5 years. A president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.
To be admitted as an official candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations from more than 500 elected officials (from 45,000+ elected officials). These officials must be from at least 30 departments, and no more than 50 officials should be from the same department. Each official may nominate only one candidate.
French presidential elections are conducted through two ballot system or run-off voting which ensures that the elected President always obtains a majority. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round of voting, the two highest-scoring candidates arrive at a run-off and the candidate who gets more than 50% of vote is elected.
He can be impeached by the High Court-a special court convened from both houses of Parliament on the proposal of either House, if the president fails to discharge his duties in a lawful manner.
PRIME MINISTER
The Prime Minister of France is the head of government. The PM directs the actions of the government & conduct the policy of the Nation.
In practice, the PM acts on the advice of the President to whom he is a subordinate, except when there is cohabitation in which case his responsibilities are akin to those of a PM in a parliamentary system.
[COHABITATION When the majority of the Assembly dont agree with the president, this leads to cohabitation. If this happens, the president's power is diminished (only those powers which are to be exercised through PM vis-a-vis National Assembly), as much of the de facto power relies on a supportive PM and National Assembly, and is not directly attributed to the post of president. When the majority of the Assembly sides with him, the President can take a more active role and may, in effect, direct government policy. When the president and the prime minister come from opposing parties, the president is responsible for foreign policy and the prime minister for domestic policy.
When PM + President=same political party President is boss.
Otherwise, cohabitation = sharing of power b/w President and PM.]
ELECTION The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic.
He has no fixed term, remains in office while commanding the confidence of the National Assembly and the President of the Republic.
* PARLIAMENT OF FRANCE
The Parliament of France has a bicameral legislature, consists of two houses:
* National Assembly;
* Senate.
Unlike the President of India, the French President under the Constitution of 1958 is not the component part of Parliament.
The powers of both houses are about same except the National Assembly can cause a government to fall if an absolute majority of the total Assembly membership votes a censure motion.
Parliament meets for one 9 month session every year and under special circumstances, the President can call an additional session. As in India, the cabinet has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament.
LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE Bills may be introduced in either of the houses of Parliament, except for finance bills which must be submitted and read first in National Assembly.
The legislative initiative is exercised concurrently by the government and members of Parliament but private members bill cannot increase the financial load of the state without providing for funding. All bills must undergo compulsory advisory review by the highest administrative court, the Council of State before being submitted to parliament.
If both houses dont choose to adopt the text identically, it is sent before a commission made of equal numbers of members of both houses, which tries to harmonize the text. If it doesnt manage to do so, the National Assembly can vote the text and have the final say on it; however laws related to the composition of the Senate cannot be voted in this manner.
The bill is then sent to the President for signature. At this point,
* The President of France, the speaker of either house or a delegation of 60 deputies or 60 senators can ask for the text to undergo constitutional review before being put into force; it is then sent before the Constitutional Council.
* The President can also, only once per law and with the countersigning of the Prime minister, send the law back to parliament for another review.
* Otherwise, the President must sign the law, after being countersigned by the Prime minister and the concerned ministers.
The power to dissolve Parliament belongs to the President of the republic. He can dissolve the Assembly at any time and for any reason solely at his discretion. There is only one limitation; he cannot dissolve it twice within the same year.
* NATIONAL ASSEMBLY The National Assembly has 577 members, these are known as Deputies.
ELECTION Deputies are directly elected for 5 year term through direct elections (single-member constituency through a two-round system).
[What is a two-round system?
To be elected in the first round of voting, a candidate must obtain at least 50% of the votes polled, with a turn-out of at least 25% of the registered voters. If no candidate is elected in the first round, those who poll in excess of 12.5% of the registered voters in the first-round vote are entered in the second round of voting.
In the second round, the candidate who receives the most no. of votes is elected.]
QUALIFICATIONS one must be
* at least 23 years old;
* of French citizenship, and
* Not subject to a sentence of deprivation of civil rights or to personal bankruptcy.
The leader of majority party is chosen as the PM. the National Assembly may force the resignation of the cabinet by voting a censure motion. However, party discipline +no horse trading ensure that, government completes a parliamentary term of 5 years.
* FRENCH SENATE The Senate has 348 seats. The senators elect a President from among their members.
ELECTIONS Senators are chosen by indirect election through an electoral college of about 145,000 local elected officials for 5 year term, and 1/3 of the Senators retire every three years.
QUALIFICATIONS Same as that of representatives except age must be 35 years.
* JUDICIARY OF FRANCE
Judiciary of France is independent and doesnt control by the other two branches of government. The most significant feature of the French judicial system is that it is divided into judicial and administrative streams.
JUDICIAL COURTS The judicial courts adjudicates civil & criminal cases. The judicial court stream consists of :
* Inferior courts,
* Intermediate appellate courts, and
* The French Supreme Court.
Judges have security of tenure and may not be promoted or demoted without their consent. Their careers are overseen by the Judicial Council of France.
ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS Administrative courts adjudicate on claims and suits against government offices and agencies. The administrative stream is made up of:
* Administrative courts,
* Courts of Administrative Appeal, and
* The Council of State.
The Council of State acts both as legal adviser to the govt and as the Supreme Court for administrative justice. It is the court of last resort, it hears cases against executive decisions and has the power to quash or set aside executive-issued statutory orders and regulations when they violate constitutional law, enacted law.
[Neither judicial nor administrative courts are empowered to rule on the constitutionality of acts passed by Parliament.]
CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL OF FRANCE Constitutional Council of France does the same work of judicial review over Constitutionality of the legislative acts as the SC of India. However, this is done in different manner altogether.
This is done by CCF
prior to their enactment, to all forms of law, but only after referral from the French President, President of the Senate, President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, or any of the 60 senators or 60 assembly members.
After their enactment, CCF exercise review after referral from French Supreme Court or the Council of State.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-FRANCEs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIAFRANCEINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresUnitary Republic
PresidentNominal HeadReal Head unless Cohabitation.While in India pres. is a rubber stamp of govt, French pres. is effective head of govt.
Vice-PresidentYesNo
Prime MinisterReal HeadNominal Head unless Cohabitation.Indian PM>French PM, in its functions.
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Republic
ElectionsParliamentary systemSemi-Presidential system
Lower HouseLok SabhaNational Assembly
Upper HouseRajya SabhaFrench Senate
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionYes, through the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtDivided into 2 streams: judicial and administrative- independent of Executive and legislative interference.Judicial Review is exercised by Constitutional Council of France.
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.Administrative Units are semi-autonomous
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyFrench civil service are open to citizens of the European Union except police and justice. Politically and religiously neutral.
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemMulti-Party System
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
Germany is a federal parliamentary republic. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Constitution provides for protection of Human rights and dignity, republicanism, Democracy and Federalism. These are Basic Law of the Constitution (eternity clause) and these cannot be removed or repealed by the normal amendment process and require absolute two-thirds majority of the Bundestag along with a simple two-thirds majority of the Bundesrat.
[Absolute two-thirds majority2/3 majority of all elected members
Simple two-thirds majority 2/3 majority of all members present and voting]
The Constitution provides for referendums for delimitation of the existing federal territory.
[The process of referendum is explained in Switzerland]
Federal legislative power is divided between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The Bundestag is directly elected by the German people, while the Bundesrat represents the regional states (Lander). The federal legislature has powers of exclusive jurisdiction and concurrent jurisdiction with the states in areas specifically enumerated by the constitution.
* PRESIDENT OF GERMANY
The President of Germany is the head of state of Germany. As in India, the President has mainly ceremonial and supervisory duties.
(But he is not the commander-in-chief of the military. In times of peace the Minister of Defence and in times of war Federal Chancellor)
FUNCTIONS the President:
1. Proposes an individual to be the Chancellor and after that individual is subsequently elected by the Bundestag appoints his/her as Federal Chancellor, but Bundestag is free to disregard the president's proposal and elect another individual to the post, whom the president is then obliged to appoint.
2. Appoints and dismisses the remaining members of the Cabinet upon the proposal of the Chancellor.
3. Dismiss the Chancellor, but only after the Bundestag passes a Vote of No Confidence and appoints the successor requested by the Bundestag.
4. Dissolve the Bundestag
5. If the Bundestag elects an individual for the office of chancellor by a plurality of votes and not by majority, the president can, either appoint that individual as chancellor or dissolve the Bundestag and call for a new election(in case of hung parliament).
6. If Vote of Confidence is defeated in the Bundestag, and the incumbent chancellor proposes dissolution, then he may, at his discretion, dissolve the body within 21 days.
7. Appoints federal judges, federal civil servants and military officers, these appointments must be countersigned by the Chancellor or responsible Minister.
8. Must sign all federal laws as to make them come into effect but if he thinks them to be violative of constitution, he can refuse to sign them.
ELECTION the president is elected for a term of 5 years through indirect election by secret ballot (as in India), by the Federal Convention, the convention consists of all Bundestag members as well as an equal number of delegates chosen by the legislatures of the Lander (states). The delegates of each state are elected by the members of the state legislature under a form of proportional representation. The convention must be convened 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the current president. The convention is convened and chaired by the President of the Bundestag.
The president is elected by an absolute majority of votes cast. If, after two votes, no single candidate has received this level of support, in the third and final vote the candidate endorsed by a plurality of votes cast is elected.
QUALIFICATIONS the president must be
1. A German Citizen;
2. At least 40 years of age;
3. Entitled to vote in Bundestag elections.
IMPEACHMENT The President can be impeached by the Bundestag or Bundesrat for wilfully violating German law.
Once the Bundestag impeaches the president, the Federal Constitutional Court is charged with determining if he or she is guilty of the offence. If the charge is proved, the court has authority to remove the president from office.
1. FEDERAL CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY
The Federal Chancellor is the head of government of Germany. She has the right to set the guidelines for all policy areas including foreign and domestic policy. The role is generally comparable to that of Prime Minister in other parliamentary democracies like India. The Cabinet is the chief executive body of Germany and the Federal Government includes the Chancellor and his or her cabinet ministers.
She is the leader of the party or coalition holding a majority of seats in the Bundestag (federal parliament).
The Chancellor is responsible for guiding the cabinet and deciding its policy direction. The cabinet ministers are free to carry out their duties independently within the boundaries set by the Chancellor's political directives.
SELECTION The Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag after being proposed by the President. If elected, the Chancellor is appointed by the President for 4 years. The ministers are appointed and dismissed by the President upon proposal of the Chancellor.
DISMISSAL the Chancellor can be removed by constructive vote of no confidence, i.e. Unlike India where only vote of no confidence has to be passed, the Bundestag, while passing vote of no confidence must simultaneously agree on a successor.
1. BUNDESTAG
Constitutionally, the Bundestag is the main body of Germany's Parliament, which is not a bicameral parliament. In practice, the country is governed by a bicameral legislature i.e. Bundestag + Bundesrat.
Like other parliamentary democracies, the Bundestag elects the Chancellor and exercises oversight on govt on issues of both policy and routine administration. This can be done through binding legislation, public debates on government policy, investigations, and questioning of the chancellor or cabinet officials.
Like India, most of the legislative work in the Bundestag is the product of standing committees. The meetings of Bundestag are chaired by President of the Bundestag.
ELECTION The Members of Bundestag are elected for a term of 4 years and currently consists of 630 members which are to be chosen through Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system.
[But what is Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system?
MMP is an indigenous electoral system of Germany, half of the Members of the Bundestag are elected directly from 299 constituencies through first-past-the-post system, the other half are elected through the party list system in such a way as to achieve as much possible, proportional representation for the total Bundestag].
Each voter votes twice in the elections to the Bundestag. As per 17th Bundestag elections 2013, 299 were elected through direct vote (this is fixed) and 331 were elected through party list system (this is variable).
PARTY LIST SYSTEM Under party list systems, voters in an electoral constituency choose from among a group of candidates put forward by the various parties contesting an election. When the votes are tallied, each party is entitled to seat the no. of members from its list that corresponds to its share of popular vote; for example, if a given party obtains 30% of the vote, then it would send 3 out of 10 candidates to the legislature and those 3 would be chosen in order in which candidates name appears on the list]
Further, those parties which receive 5% of total national vote or win at least three directly elected seats are eligible for non-constituency seats in the Bundestag. This was done to prevent political fragmentation and strong minor parties.
QUALIFICATION all candidates must be:
1. Citizens of Federal Republic of Germany;
2. 18 years of age.
1. BUNDESRAT
The German Bundesrat is a constitutional body that represents the delegation of 16 Federal States (Lander) of Germany at the national level. Officially, it is not upper house but practically it is.
Like most of other upper houses, the Bundesrat plays second fiddle to the Bundestag; however, it does play a vital legislative role.
ELECTIONthe members of Bundesrat are not elected directly or indirectly, they are sent by respective state govts. Each delegation has a minister-president and other cabinet ministers. The state cabinet may appoint as many delegates as the state has votes. Each state is allocated at least 3 votes, and a maximum of 6. All of a state's votes are cast en bloc i.e. out of 3 member delegation, all 3 votes would be cast by minister-president for or against or in abstention of a proposal.
POWERSThe Bundesrat must approve all legislation affecting policy areas for which the Constitution grants the concurrent powers to the Lander.
The Bundesrat can exercise absolute veto against constitutional amendment, which requires an approval with majority of 2/3 of all votes in Bundesrat and against all other legislations it has a suspensive veto, which can be overridden by Bundestag by passing the law again, but this time with 50% plus one vote of all members and not just by majority of votes cast.
In case of deadlock regarding absolute veto, the Bundestag, the Bundesrat or the government can convene a joint committee to negotiate a compromise, this compromise cannot be amended and both chambers are required to hold a final vote on the compromise as it is.
President of the Bundesrat The post of the President of the Bundesrat rotates annually among the minister-presidents of each of the Lander. He convenes and chairs plenary sessions of the Bundesrat.
If the President of Germany is outside the country, or the position is lying vacant then the President of the Bundesrat temporarily assumes the powers of the President, until a successor is elected. While doing so, he does not continue to exercise the role of chair of the Bundesrat.
1. JUDICIARY OF GERMANY
Judiciary of Germany is independent and doesnt control by the other two branches of government The Constitution provides that the judicial power shall be vested in the judges and it shall be exercised by the Federal Constitutional Court, by the federal courts and by the courts of the Lander.
The judiciary is hierarchically integrated.
[The German judicial system includes 5 types of courts- Ordinary courts, Administrative law courts, Tax law courts, Labour law courts and Social law courts + the Federal Constitutional Court but all of them are not of our concern].
FEDERAL COURT OF JUSTICE the Federal Court of Justice subordinates all of the ordinary courts-local, regional and appellate courts, which adjudicates on civil and criminal law
FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT the Federal Constitutional Court is the supreme constitutional court established by the constitution.
FCC exercises the right of Judicial Review, as like SC of India, and it may declare any federal or state law unconstitutional, if it violates constitution, thus making them ineffective.
The Federal Constitutional Court decides on the constitutionality of laws and executive orders under the following circumstances:
* Individual complaint a suit brought by any individual alleging that a law or any action of government violated his or her constitutional rights. All possible solutions in the regular courts must have been exhausted beforehand.
* Referral by regular court a court can refer the question whether a statute applicable to the case before that court is constitutional.
* Abstract regulation control the federal government, a government of one of the federal states or a quarter of the Bundestag's members can bring suit against a law.
Constitutional amendments passed by the Parliament are subject to its judicial review, since they have to be compatible with eternity clause of the constitution.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-GERMANYs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIAGERMANYINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresFederal State
PresidentNominal HeadNominal HeadBoth Indian & German presidents are rubber stamp of govt.
Vice-PresidentYesNo
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadChancellorReal head.
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Republic
ElectionsParliamentary SystemParliamentary system
Lower HouseLok SabhaBundestag
Upper HouseRajya SabhaBundesratWhile members of Rajya Sabha are elected through Single Transferable Vote System, the deputies of Bundesrat are sent by govts of the states.
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionYes, through Constitutional provisions-eternity clause
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtCourts are independent of Executive & legislative interference. Judicial Review is exercised by the Federal Constitutional Court
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.Lander are fully autonomous within their legislative & executive sphere.
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyPolitically neutral institution
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemMulti-Party System
SWITZERLAND
The Switzerland is the Federal Parliamentary Democratic Republic. It is very close to become Direct Democracy. Executive power is exercised by the government and the Federal Council of Switzerland is the head of government and the govt is not concentrated in any one person. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
[Direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then decide policy initiatives]
INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM Switzerland provides for Initiative- a citizen-proposed law and Referendum- govt-proposed law.
Initiative is a means by which a petition is signed by a no. of registered voters, forcing a public vote on
* A proposed statute,
* Constitutional Amendment.
Initiative in Switzerland is available in Federal Assembly on a question of Constitutional amendment, i.e. the electorate has the right to initiate constitutional legislation, though it is used in Cantons for both legislative as well as amendment proposals.
Referendum is a practice of referring measures passed upon by the legislature for acceptance or rejection.
In Switzerland, if both houses of Federal Assembly agree on a constitutional amendment, it must be submitted to voters and becomes law, if approved by majority of qualified voters but also by a majority of cantons (Double Majority)
In the Swiss Federation the referendum is optional in respect of ordinary law, but if 100000 citizens or 8 cantons make a demand, federal laws are submitted for approval of the people.
* FEDERAL COUNCIL
The Federal Council constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves collectively as the Swiss head of state. The Council consists of 7 councillors and each one of them heads one of the 7 federal executive departments. The Council acts like the board of directors of a major corporation.
The Council includes members of many political parties but due to the principle of collegiality, the Councillors are not supposed to publicly criticise one another, and they are expected to publicly support all decisions of the Council, even against their own personal opinion or that of their political party.
ELECTION the Councillors are elected for a term of 4 years by both chambers of the United Federal Assembly. Each Councillor is elected individually through secret ballot by an absolute majority of votes.
Every adult Swiss citizen can become a Councillor, but in practice, only Members of Federal Assembly or sometimes, members of Cantonal governments are nominated by the political parties.
The Councillors can be re-elected for an indefinite number of terms. After being elected, they can neither be voted out of office by a motion of no confidence nor can they be impeached.
PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATION
Every year, one of the 7 Councillors is elected by the Federal Assembly as President of the Confederation. The Federal Assembly also elects a Vice President. By convention, the chair of President rotates among the members in order of seniority and the previous year's Vice President becomes President.
He is not head of state or head of govt, both of these functions are administered by the Federal Council collectively. The President presides over Council meetings and carries out certain functions like those of a head of state but he is not head of state. In urgent situations where a Council decision cannot be made in time, he or she is empowered to act on behalf of the whole Council; however he has no power above and beyond the other 6 Councillors.
The decisions of the Council are formally taken by voice vote by a majority of the Councillors present at a meeting or through Consensus. The President breaks the tie.
* FEDERAL ASSEMBLY
The Federal Assembly is national legislative body of Switzerland. Swiss Constitution vests the supreme authority in the Federal Assembly. It is bicameral and composed of the National Council and the Council of States. The powers of 2 chambers of Federal Assembly are almost absolutely equal. It should be noted that the principle of separation of powers has not been made the basis of the Swiss governmental system. Federal Assembly has been entrusted with all kinds of functions which are not legislative but also executive and judicial in character.
It has been correctly observed that there are few parliaments which exercise more miscellaneous duties than Federal Assembly.
POWERS
* Legislative & Financial powers The Federal Assembly passes all federal laws and legislative ordinances, considers and passes the annual budget of Federation, approves the state accounts and authorise public loans floated by the federal govt. The Federal Assembly also votes on treaties and constitutional amendments.
* Executive powers The Federal Assembly exercises imp executive functions. Sitting together, the two chambers elect members of federal council, federal chancellor, and in case of war or threat of war, the Commander-in-Chief. The Constitution directs the Federal Assembly to take all measures necessary to ensure external safety and preservation of independence and neutrality of Switzerland.
[Switzerland is a neutral state= no ladai jhagda with neighbours +no dilchaspi in international power politics]
* Judicial powers Judges of federal Tribunal are elected by Federal Assembly; it also hears appeals against the decisions of Tribunal on administrative disputes. The Federal Assembly deals with conflicts of jurisdiction b/w different federal authorities. It also exercises the judicial prerogative of granting pardon & amnesty.
The Federal Assembly exercises general supervision over the federal administration and is empowered to issue instructions to the Federal Council in the form of postulates, a sort of directive to the Council to examine a particular question.
* NATIONAL COUNCIL the National Council is the lower house of the Federal Assembly.
ELECTION The National Council has 200 seats and members are chosen for the term of 4 years by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies.
[Multi-Seat Constituency= one Constituency and many deputies]
The deputies are chosen from each of the constituency of 26 cantons.
The no. of deputies a canton can send depends on the population of the canton but at least one deputy should be from every canton.
Each voter elects the deputies of the canton in which she/he lives and each voter has as many votes as there are deputies to elect. A voter cannot give more than two votes to the same candidate. Each citizen can vote for persons of different parties.
The no. of candidates a party can send to the National Council depends on the no. of votes party gets.
* COUNCIL OF STATES the Council of States is the upper house of Federal Assembly.
It has 46 seats which are filled from 26 cantons. The 20 cantons send 2 councillors each and 6 former half cantons send 1 councillor, for 4 year term.
ELECTION Swiss Constitution provides for democratic method and the mode of election is left to individual cantons.
* FEDERAL SUPREME COURT
The Federal Supreme Court is established under the Swiss Federal Constitution as the supreme judicial authority of Switzerland. It is the court of appeal for all decisions of the cantonal courts of last instance.
Because of an emphasis on direct democracy through referendum, the Constitution precludes the court from reviewing acts of the Federal Parliament, unless such review is specifically provided for by statute.
FEATURESINDIASWITZERLANDINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresFederal State
PresidentNominal HeadNominal Head
Vice-PresidentYesYes
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadFederal Council is Real HeadAdministrative power is exercised by whole of council collectively and not by one person as in India.
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Republic
ElectionsParliamentary systemParliamentary system
Lower HouseLok SabhaNational CouncilBoth houses National Council and Council of States, have equal powers.
Upper HouseRajya SabhaCouncil of States
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionTitle 2 of the Constitution
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtFederal Supreme Court of Switzerland is independent of Executive interference, but not empowers to judge the constitutionality of a federal law as this right is exercised by common man through referendum.
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.Cantons are sovereign insofar as their sovereignty is not limited by the Federal Constitution, they exercise all rights which are not transferred to the Confederation
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyPolitically neutral institution
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemMulti-Party System
PEOPLEs REPUBLIC OF CHINA
China is the Unitary Socialist Republic and functions under Constitution of 1982.
It is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship and is led by the Communist Party, the vanguard of the working class. The constitution opposes the separation of powers by executive, legislature and judiciary. National People's Congress is the highest organ of state authority power.
* PRESIDENT OF CHINA
The President of the People's Republic of China is the head of state of China. He holds a ceremonial office.
[He is not Commander-in-Chief of PLA; PLA comes under the Central Military Commission]
POWERSHe promulgates statutes adopted by the National People's Congress. He appoints the Premier of the State Council, Vice-Premiers, other State Council members and all ambassadors to foreign countries, upon the NPC's decision.
[In practice, President exercise much more power by virtue of being the General Secretary of the Communist Party who is generally responsible for establishing general policy and direction of the state which are implemented by the Premier of the People's Republic of China, the head of government]
ELECTION The President is elected by the National People's Congress which also has the power to remove the President from office by a simple majority vote. He is elected by Presidium of NPC which is headed by the general secretary of the Communist Party and in practice and the general secretary is chosen as President (So, he choose himself as president).
He is elected for term of 5 years and limited to two consecutive terms.
QUALIFICATIONS Citizens of the People's Republic of China who have the right to vote and who have reached the age of 45 are eligible for election as President.
VICE-PRESIDENT
The Vice President of the People's Republic of China assists the President in his work.
The Vice President of the People's Republic of China may exercise such functions and powers of the President and the President may entrust to him.
In the event that the office of the President of the People's Republic of China falls vacant, the Vice President of the People's Republic of China succeeds to the office of President.
He is elected by NPC for term of 5 years and limited to two consecutive terms.
Mode of election, dismissal and qualifications are same that of President.
* STATE COUNCIL
The State Council is the chief administrative authority of China.
It is composed of
the Premier; the Vice Premiers; the State Councillors; the Ministers in charge of ministries; the Ministers in charge of commissions; the Auditor General; and the Secretary General.
The State Council is responsible to the National People's Congress, or when the National People's Congress is not in session, to its Standing Committee. The State Council follows the system of premier responsibility in work while various ministries and commissions under the State Council follow the system of ministerial responsibility.
It meets once every 6 months and b/w its meetings, it is guided by a standing committee. The standing committee of State Council includes the premier, one executive vice premier, 3 vice premiers, and 5 other state councillors.
The State Council controls the Ministry for National Defense but doesnt control the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is instead controlled by the Central Military Commission.
FUNCTIONS
* to formulate administrative measures and regulations and monitor their implementation;
* draft legislations for submission to its Standing Committee or the NPC ;
* Prepare the economic policy and the budget;
* to conduct foreign affairs and conclude treaties and agreements with foreign states;
* to decide on the imposition of martial law in parts of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government;
* To exercise unified leadership over the work of local organs of state administration at various levels throughout the country.
PREMIER
The Premier of the State Council is the head of the State Council of China. He oversees the various ministries, departments, commissions and statutory agencies and announcing their candidacies to the National People's Congress for Vice-Premiers and State Councillors.
ELECTION The Premier is nominated by the President and then formally approved by the National People's Congress for 5 year term. In practice, the candidate is chosen by an informal process within the Communist Party of China. He can be removed by NPC.
* NATIONAL PEOPLEs CONGRESS
The National People's Congress is the highest legislative body of China. It is the largest parliament in the world with 2,987 members. It is the unicameral parliament with no second chamber. The NPC meets for about two weeks each year and the daily power is exercised by the Standing Committee of the NPC which contains about 150 members.
ELECTION Election of deputies to the National People's Congress is conducted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
The ruling Communist Party of China maintains effective control over the composition of National People's Congress. By limiting the number of candidates in proportion to the number of seats available, the Party blocks unacceptable candidates. However, approximately 1/3 of the seats are reserved for non-Communist Party members which includes technical experts and members of the smaller allied parties.
The NPC consists of about 3,000 delegates who are elected for 5 year term by the provincial people's assemblies through indirect election.
Deputies are elected by the people's congresses of the country's 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and the 4 municipalities directly under the Central Government, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and the armed forces. The size of each college of delegates is related to the number of electors in the constituency (proportional system)
QUALIFICATION all citizens of China who have reached the age of 18 have the right to stand for election.
PRESIDIUMThe Presidium of the NPC is a 178-member body of the NPC. It nominates the President and Vice President of China, the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the NPC, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and the President of the Supreme People's Court for election by the NPC.
NPC STANDING COMMITTEE
The permanent organ of the National People's Congress is its Standing Committee, which is responsible to the National People's Congress. It functions as the highest body of state power.
The NPC Standing Committee is composed of the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen, the Secretary-General and other members who are elected from among the deputies at the first session of every National People's Congress. The members of the NPC Standing Committee generally include:
(a) Representatives from the Communist Party of China;
(b) Representatives from various democratic parties and patriots and democrats without party affiliation;
(c) Representatives of people's organizations;
(d) Representatives of the People's Liberation Army; and
(e) Representatives of minority ethnic groups with a population of over 1 million each.
[How Standing Committee is chosen is not specified in constitution, if dont believe me then look www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/law/const04.html ]
According to the Constitution and the Organic Law of the National People's Congress, the NPC Standing Committee exercises the following functions and powers:
1. Legislative right According to the Constitution, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee jointly exercise the legislative right, including enacting and amending statutes, with the exception of those which should be enacted by the National People's Congress. Consequently, except for the Constitution and basic laws, The NPC Standing Committee undertakes a large amount of legislative work.
2. Right to supervise the enforcement of the ConstitutionThe Constitution gives the supervisory right also to the NPC Standing Committee in addition to the National People's Congress. As a permanent body of NPC, this ensures it can carry out regular supervision of the enforcement of the Constitution.
3. Right to supervise the work of other state organsThe NPC Standing Committee supervises the work of the State Council, Central Military Commission, Supreme People's Court; annulling those administrative decisions or orders of the State Council that contravene the Constitution or the statutes of the state.
4. Power of appointment and removalWhen the National People's Congress is not in session, the NPC Standing Committee selects the vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC controls People's Liberation Army) and members of the commission according to the nomination of the chairmen of the Central Military Commission; appoints and removes vice-presidents and judges of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), members of SPC's Judicial Committee and the president of the Military Court.
* SUPREME PEOPLEs COURT
The highest court in the judicial system is the Supreme People's Court and it is directly responsible to the NPC and its Standing Committee and therefore not free of interference.
It supervises the administration of justice by the people's courts at various levels (Basic people's courts at district level < intermediate people's courts at Prefecture-level < higher people's courts at Provincial-level < the Supreme People's Court).
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-CHINAs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIACHINAINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal features Unitary State
PresidentNominal HeadReal Head(in practice)Indian President < Chinese President
Vice-PresidentYesYes
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadPremierIndian PM > Chinese Premier
PolityDemocratic RepublicSocialist Republic
GovernmentParliamentary systemCommunist system
Lower HouseLok SabhaNational People CongressNPC is the maai-baap in Chinese constitutional structure.
Upper HouseRajya SabhaNo
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionVery Limited, right to life and property are allowed in 1982 Constitution but not freedom of speech and association, even Press is controlled.India won.
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtThe Supreme People's Court is under the NPC..Supreme Court of India > Supreme People's Court, in its functions.
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.Except Special Administrative Regions (SARs) such as Hong Kong and Macau, no autonomy.Indian state govts are more independent than Chinese provincial govts as the latter are appointed by the central government
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyPolitically controlled institution
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemChinese constitution allows Multi-Party System but in reality Dominant One Party System exists.
SOURCES
1. Comparitive Politics Dr. S.C. Singhal
2. www.electionresources.org
3. www.iuscomp.org/gla/statutes/BWG.htm for Germany.
4. www.vescc.az/constitution/france-constitution-eng.html for France.
5. www.bk.admin.ch/dokumentation/02070/02480/04712/index.html?lang=en for Switzerland.
6. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html for China.
7. http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/law/const01.html for China.
8. Google + wiki for statistics.
PERSONAL INFO
Shrey Khanna
PROLOGUE
1. United States of America
1. President of USA
2. Vice President
3. Congress
(a) House of Representatives
(b) Senate
1.4 Supreme Court of USA
1.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-USAs Political Systems.
1. United Kingdom
2.1 Monarchy of UK
2.2 Her Majesty's Government
(a) Prime Minister
2.3 British Parliament
(a) House of Commons
(b) House of Lords
2.4 Supreme Court of UK
2.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-UKs Political Systems.
1. France
3.1 President of the France
3.2 Prime Minister
3. Parliament of France
1. National Assembly
2. Senate
3. Judiciary of France
3. Comparison b/w INDIA-FRANCEs Political Systems.
1. Germany
4.1 President of Germany
4.2 Federal Chancellor
4.3 The Bundestag
4.4 The Bundesrat
4.5 Judiciary of Germany
4.6 Comparison b/w INDIA-GERMANYs Political Systems
1. Switzerland
5.1 The Federal Council
5.2 President of the Confederation
5.3 Federal Assembly
(a) National Council
(b) Council of States
5.4 The Federal Supreme Court
5.5 Comparison b/w INDIA-SWITZERLANDs Political Systems
1. China
6.1 President of China
6.2 Vice- President
6.3 State Council
6.4 Premier
6.5 The National People's Congress
(a) NPC Standing Committee
6.6 Supreme People's Court
6.7 Comparison b/w INDIA-CHINAs Political Systems
{NOTE:
* The best way of reading would be by keeping parallels in mind e.g. when reading US president keep in mind his Indian counterpart or when reading German Chancellor keep in mind Indian PM.
* Wherever comparisons are used e.g. Senate>Rajya Sabha, it doesnt means that Senate can overpower Rajya Sabha, it means that the powers of Senate in US are greater than that are enjoyed by Rajya Sabha in India.
United States of America
American constitution is the oldest among existing written constitutions of the world. It was drafted by the constitutional convention, the Philadelphia Convention (1787).
It is federal presidential democratic republic.
[But what is federal system of government?
In a truly federal state, power is divided b/w federal govt (at the centre) and its constituent units as specified in constitution.
But the most imp feature of federal state is that sovereignty is divided b/w the centre and the states. There is not one but many centre of sovereignty in a federal country.
Other important attributes are-dual citizenship; supremacy of constitution; Supreme Authority for interpreting constitution and deciding conflicts b/w centre and states.]
Provision of Checks and Balance
The principle of checks and balances was applied to provide against a water-tight compartmentalisation and to ensure no despotism.
* Thus law making power of congress is checked by presidents veto and Supreme Courts power of interpreting laws and declaring them ultra vires if they contradict the provisions of the constitution.
* President is checked by the fact that he cannot spend money without the approval of Senate; that he can be impeached by the congress; that he cant make appointments without the approval of senate and treaties negotiated by him cannot become effective until they are ratified by senate.
* The Judiciary is checked by the fact that Congress can determine the no. of judges and fix their salaries; that President and Senate together appoint judges and Congress can impeach judges.
* PRESIDENT
President of USA is head of the state and head of the government. He is commander-in-chief of armed forces, head of national economic programme and spokesman for all Americans.
1. He is the Chief Executive, the official charged with supervising the activities of all Americans in the national administration.
2. He has been commanded by law to prepare the govts annual budget, to set rules for civil service and to encourage efficient administrative practices.
3. With the advice and consent of senate, President appoints ambassadors, other public officials and counsels, judges of Supreme Court.
4. He is also director of American foreign policy; however, treaties and diplomatic appointments must be confirmed by Senate.
5. He is closely associated with work of congress. The constitution requires him to recommend to congress such measures as he judges necessary and expedient and grants him qualified power of veto.
[Qualified power of veto whenever he thinks that the bill passed by congress is unwise or unconstitutional, he may return the bill without his signature or retain it unsigned= pocket veto the bill cannot become law of the land.
But if both chambers of the Congress pass the bill by 2/3 majority then it becomes law without the President's signature.]
ELECTION The President of US is elected from an indirect election i.e. not by voters directly but by an electoral college whose electors are chosen by the voters of the state.
In other words, voters in each state select a slate of electors from a list of several slates designated by different political parties and those electors promise in advance to vote for presidential candidates of those political parties.
VICE-PRESIDENT
The Vice President is the second-highest executive official in rank of the government. The Vice President becomes President upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President. Under the Constitution, the Vice President is ex-officio President of the Senate. By virtue of this role, he or she is the head of the Senate. In that capacity, the Vice President is allowed to vote in the Senate, but only when necessary to break a tie vote. Due to the 12th Amendment, the Vice President presides over the joint session of Congress.
1. CONGRESS
It has two chambers
1. House of Representative
2. Senate
POWERS OF CONGRESS These include
* the powers to levy and collect taxes;
* to coin money and regulate its value;
* provide for punishment for counterfeiting and felony;
* establish post offices and roads;
* create federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court;
* declare war, raise and support armies, provide and maintain a navy, make rules for the regulation of land and naval forces, provide for, arm and discipline the militia;
* Make laws necessary to properly execute these powers.
The powers of Congress are limited to those enumerated in the Constitution; all other powers are reserved to the states and the people
IMPEACHMENT OF FEDERAL OFFICERSCongress has the power to impeach the President, federal judges, and other federal officers from office.
Both houses have separate roles in this process. The House of representative must first vote to impeach the official. Then, a trial is held in the Senate to decide whether the official should be removed from office which acts like a court. When an Impeachment process involves a U.S. President, the Chief Justice of the United States is required to preside during the Senate trial. In all other trials, the Vice President would preside in his capacity as President of the Senate.
CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHTthis is near similar to the work done by standing and business committees in India except Congress is more powerful and does wide variety of functions. Congressional oversight is intended to prevent waste of resources and fraud, to protect civil liberties and individual rights and ensure executive compliance with the law. It applies to cabinet departments, executive agencies, regulatory commissions and the presidency.
* HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES It is the lower house of the Congress. The House consists of 435 members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of representatives each state has in the House is based on each state's population, unlike senate; here proportional representation has been followed.
ELECTION the qualifications for being elected as the member
An individual must be at least 25 years of age, and must have been a U.S. citizen for at least 7 years standing. Each representative is elected for period of 2 years.
In addition to the 435 voting members, there are 6 non-voting members, consisting of 5 delegates and one resident commissioner. There is one delegate each from the District of Columbia, Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the resident commissioner from Puerto Rico.
SPECIAL POWERS All legislative bills for raising revenue must originate in the House of Representatives.
B. SENATE It is the upper house of American Congress. Though unlike upper houses of other countries, Senate is co-ordinate and co-equal with House of Representatives and , in addition, vested with imp special powers.
ELECTION The Constitution empowers the Senate to be the judge of the elections, returns and qualification of its members. Senate has 100 members from 50 states (50*2) with 1/3 of members retiring every 2 years. Until the 17th amendment to US constitution in 1913, senators were elected by state legislatures and not by electorate of the states. Each senator is elected for 6 years.
The qualifications for being a senator an individual should be at least 30 years of age, must be a citizen of USA of 9 years standing and must be the inhabitant of the state from which he is elected.
The Senate can by majority vote refuse to allow a duly elected member from taking his seat.
SPECIAL POWERS the Senate must give "advice and consent" to many important Presidential appointments, including cabinet officers, federal judges (including nominees to the Supreme Court), department secretaries (heads of federal executive branch departments), U.S. military and naval officers, and ambassadors to foreign countries
* SUPREME COURT
Supreme Court of US enjoys immense prestige and the people of America take pride in calling it the most august tribunal on earth. Its position as the final interpreter of the constitution has come to be universally accepted and through the exercise of this power, the SC acts as an umpire of constitutional conflicts and as the protector of the
FINAL INTERPRETER OF THE CONSTITUTION SC has assumed the position of final interpreter of constitution and it is on the basis of this position that the SC has built up the Doctrine of Judicial Supremacy. This position of SC has never been successfully challenged.
JUDICIAL REVIEW The practice of judicial review --- is the most important function and distinctive attribute of the SC. Judicial Review is the right of SC and also of subordinate federal courts to examine the laws passed by the federal & state legislatures with a view to determining whether or not they are in consonance with constitution of US. If SC feels that a law under examination contravenes any provision, it declares the law ultra vires and unconstitutional.
Judicial Review, it should be remembered, does not only apply to federal & state statutes. It has a wider scope and covers the constitution of states, treaties made by federal govt and executive orders issued by federal & state executive authorities.
The Judiciary Act of 1789 subdivided the nation jurisdictionally into judicial districts and created federal courts for each district. The three tiered structure of this act established the basic structure of the national judiciary: the Supreme Court, 13 courts of appeals, 94 district courts but Congress retains the power to re-organize and even abolish federal courts lower than the SC under the act.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-USAs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIAUSAINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresFederal State
PresidentNominal HeadReal HeadWhile in Indian president is a rubber stamp of govt, US president is Chief-executive of govt.
Vice-PresidentYesYes
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadNoPM in parliamentary democracy with majority in both houses can be more powerful (can do whatever he wants) than US president.
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Republic
Form of GovernmentParliamentary systemPresidential system
Lower HouseLok SabhaHouse of RepresentativeLok Sabha>House of Representatives, in its functions
Upper HouseRajya SabhaSenateSenate>Rajya Sabha, in its functions.
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionYes, through Constitutional provisions and Civil Rights Act.
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtThe Supreme Court of US is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Supremacy is followed.SC of India subordinates all High Courts but SC of US exercise lesser control over State Supreme Courts. SSC are the final authority on the interpretation of the applicable state's laws and state's Constitution (dual sovereignty).
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.In US, Each state has its own written constitution, and code of laws. The 10th Amendment to the US Constitution prohibits the federal government from exercising any power not delegated to it by the States in the Constitution (fully autonomous).
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyPolitically neutral institution
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemThough not provided in the Constitution, in practice Two-Party System prevails, with some other parties with relatively minor representation.
UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN IRELAND
UK has a Constitutional Monarchy and unitary democracy. It has no Written Constitution. Its government is known as Her Majestys Government. It functions through Unwritten Constitution which is sum total of Historical Written Laws, Court Judgements, parliamentary constitutional conventions and Treaties.
Under the unwritten British constitution, executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
In UK, Parliament is Supreme law making body and Courts dont exercise Judicial Review over laws passed by the Parliament hence Parliamentary Supremacy.
One consequence of the principle of parliamentary sovereignty is that there is no hierarchy among Acts of Parliament: all parliamentary legislation is, in principle, of equal validity and effectiveness unlike India, where Constitutional law > non-Constitutional law.
* RULE OF LAW The protector of peoples liberties in UK is Rule of Law. As a basic principle of British Constitutional System, the rule of law means that the exercise of powers of govt shall be conditioned by law and that the subject shall not be exposed to arbitrary will of his rule.
That is to say, no man can be punished or made suffer in body or goods (imprisoned or fined) except if it is established in the ordinary legal manner and before the court of law that he is guilty of a breach of law.
* EQUALITY BEFORE LAW It implies that no one is above the law. With the sole exception of Monarch who can do no wrong, everyone in UK, whether the PM or Constable is under same responsibility for every act done without legal justification. This rule is subject to certain exceptions.
* UNITARY STATE The UK includes 4 countries: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but it is a unitary state and though Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have legislatures and executives, the authority of all these bodies are dependent on Acts of Parliament and that they can be abolished at the will of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. England and Wales share the same legal system, while Scotland and Northern Ireland both has its own distinct legal system.
[But what is unitary state?
In unitary state, the ultimate authority and control over all affairs of the govt and administration rests with the central govt, which may create such provinces & sub-divisions for the sake of administrative convenience and confer upon them such powers as it deems fit.]
* MONARCHY OF THE UNITED KINGDOM
The British Sovereign has no effective or real powers. She has that glory that belongs to a hereditary monarch. She wears the crown on great official occasions. But there is no power behind her glory and dignity. She reigns but does not rule.
In all her official functions, she acts on the advice of council of ministers; which means after all, that she has to do what they tell her to do. She may exercise her right to be informed, to encourage and warn. This is known as Royal Prerogative. The Sovereign advices and minister decides. No British Sovereign since Queen Victoria (1892) has made a serious effort to take a direct hand in administration. The Sovereign's role as a constitutional monarch is largely limited to non-partisan functions, such as granting honours, performance of opening ceremonies and holding receptions emissaries.
POWERS She exercises 2 types of powers.
* INTERNAL These include power to-
* dismiss and appoint a Prime Minister & other ministers;
* summon and prorogue Parliament;
* grant or refuse Royal Assent to bills (making them valid and law);
* appoint members to the Queen's Council;
* command the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom;
* grant Prerogative of mercy;
* create corporations via Royal Charter;
* Appoint bishops and archbishops of the Church of England.
* EXTERNAL These include power to-
* ratify and make treaties;
* declare War and Peace;
* deploy the Armed Forces overseas;
As in the case of Indian President, British Sovereign exercises all of this power with the advice of council of ministers
.
* GOVERNMENT of the UK
Her Majesty's Government is the central government of the UK.
As in India, the Government is led by the Prime Minister, who selects all the other Ministers of the Cabinet.
In accordance with constitutional convention, all ministers within the government are either Members of Parliament or peers in the House of Lords. The executive authority lies with the monarch, although this authority is exercised only by, or on the advice of, the PM and the Cabinet. The Government is required by convention to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons.
PRIME MINISTER OF UK
PM is appointed by the Monarch. The most important power still personally exercised by the Monarch is the choice of whom to appoint Prime Minister, this is done, in the case of hung Parliament, after negotiations and usually leader of party with most no. of seats in House of Commons is chosen.
PM is the de facto leader of Her Majesty's Government, and exercises executive functions that are nominally vested in the sovereign.
* PARLIAMENT OF UK OF GREAT BRITAIN & NORTHERN IRELAND
British Parliament is the supreme legislative body in the UK. It has been called the mother of parliaments, its democratic institutions having set the standards for many democracies throughout the world including India.
In theory, supreme legislative power is vested in the Queen-in-Parliament but in practice, real power is vested in the House of Commons since the House of Lords is subordinate to Commons. Royal Assent of the Monarch is required for all Bills to become law.
[As in India, Parliament= President + Lok Sabha + Rajya Sabha.
British Parliament = the Monarch+ the House of Lords + the House of Commons.]
Dissolution of parliament the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011, removed the Royal Prerogative to dissolve Parliament. Now Dissolution of parliament occurs only when British PM loses vote of confidence or 2/3 of the members of the House of Commons vote to hold an early election.
After each Parliament dissolves, the Crown issues writs to hold a general election and elect new members of the House of Commons but membership of the House of Lords does not change due to dissolution.
It has two chambers
* House of Commons
* House of Lords
FUNCTIONS OF BRITISH PARLIAMENT
Laws are made by the UK Parliament. A bill can be introduced by any member of either House, but usually a bill is introduced by a Minister of the Crown. The House of Lords neither initiate nor debate financial bill.
A bill introduced by a Minister is known as a "Government Bill"; and one that is introduced by another member is called a "Private Member's Bill".
Parliamentary procedure of passing bills is about similar to India except the institution of Speaker of House of Commons.
* HOUSE OF COMMONSThe British House of Commons is the oldest popular legislative body in the world. The House consists of 650 MPs each of whom represents a parliamentary constituency.
ELECTIONS- The qualifications for being elected as the member
SPECIAL POWERS The House of Commons is legally omnipotent chamber. Financial bills can only be initiated, debated and passed in Commons.
All legislation must be passed by the House of Commons to become law and it controls taxation and the supply of money to the government. Government ministers (including the PM) must regularly answer questions in the House of Commons.
SPEAKER The House of Commons transacts its business with the Speaker on the chair. The Speaker, presiding officer of the house, holds one of the most honourable, dignified and onerous offices in the world. She/he is elected by the House of Commons.
Unlike India, upon his election to the chair, he cuts his party affiliations and becomes embodiment of impartiality. He controls the debate and maintains order in the house. He is the guardian of the rights and liberties of the House of Commons.
He is nominated by the govt of the day but while in office, they act with strict impartiality.
* HOUSE OF LORDS The House of Lords is the chamber that is subordinate to the House of Commons. The Lords currently has around 830 Members. Historically Lords performed judicial functions as highest court of the land but the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 abolished of the judicial functions of the House of Lords with the creation of the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom in October 2009.
ELECTIONS The house consists of two very different types of member, the Lords Temporal and Lords Spiritual.
Lords Temporal these includes 2 types -
* appointed members (life peers with no hereditary right for their descendants to sit in the house as oppose to hereditary peers,) appointed by Crown on aid and advice of cabinet, their number is variable and
* 92 remaining hereditary peers, elected from among, and by, the holders of titles which previously gave a seat in the House of Lords.
Lords Spiritual these represents the established Church of England and are 26 in number: the Five Ancient Sees (Canterbury, York, London, Winchester and Durham), and the 21 next-most senior bishops.
POWERS All bills except money bills are debated and voted upon in House of Lords. The House of Lords acts to review legislation passed by the House of Commons, with the power to propose amendments, and can exercise a temporary veto. This allows it to delay legislation if it does not approve it for 12 months (by voting against a bill, the House of Lords can only delay it for a maximum of two parliamentary sessions over a year).
After this time, the House of Commons can force the Bill through, without the Lords' consent under the Parliament Acts. Usually governments accept changes in legislation in order to avoid the time delay.
The House of Lords cannot veto major manifesto promises (Salisbury convention). However the Lords still retain a full veto in acts which would extend the life of Parliament beyond the 5 year term limit.
* JUDICIARY OF UK
The judiciary of UK is not unified. Each of the separate legal systems in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has their own judiciary. However, the judges of the Supreme Court of the UK do have a jurisdiction over whole of the United Kingdom.
SC is headed by the President and Deputy President of the Supreme Court and is composed of a further 10 Justices of the Supreme Court.
Unlike other functional democracies, SC of UK doesnt exercise judicial review over the law passed by parliament.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-UKs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIAUKINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresUnitary State with Constitutional Monarchy
President/MonarchNominal HeadNominal Head
Vice-PresidentYesNo
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadReal Head
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Monarchy
GovernmentParliamentary systemParliamentary systemSpeaker of House of Commons is much more powerful and efficient in maintaining order in the house than Lok Sabha Speaker.
Lower HouseLok SabhaHouse of CommonsUK being a unitary state, House of Commons > Lok Sabha, in its functions.
Upper HouseRajya SabhaHouse of LordsRajya Sabha = House of Lords, regarding financial bills in some respects but Rajya Sabha > House of Lords regarding non-money bills.
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionYes, through Rule of Law
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High Court SC of UK doesnt exercise judicial review over the law passed by parliamentSC of India > SC of UK, in its functions.
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.In UK, devolution of powers has taken place, but Legislation creating devolved parliaments or assemblies can be repealed or amended by central government in the same way as any ordinary statute.
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallya permanent politically neutral organisation
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemTwo-Party System
REPUBLIC OF FRANCE
Fifth Republic of France is a democratic republic, in which the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
* PRESIDENT OF REPUBLIC OF FRANCE
The President of the France is the head of state. He is also supreme commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces and the ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He is the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity and observance of treaties.
He enjoys wide range of power. He has the power to choose the Prime Minister. However, since the National Assembly has the sole power to dismiss the PM's government, the president has to name a prime minister who can command the support of a majority in the assembly. He cannot dismiss PM. The French President wields significant influence especially in the fields of national security and foreign policy.
OTHER POWERS The President may:
* Dissolve the French National Assembly;
* Refer treaties or certain types of laws to popular referendum, within certain conditions.
* Grant pardon to convicted criminals.
He names and dismisses the other ministers, with the agreement of the Prime minister. He presides over the Council of Ministers. He nominates certain members of the Constitutional Council.
All decisions of the president must be countersigned by the Prime minister and, where required, by the appropriate ministers.
ELECTION The President is elected directly through universal suffrage for 5 years. A president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms.
To be admitted as an official candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations from more than 500 elected officials (from 45,000+ elected officials). These officials must be from at least 30 departments, and no more than 50 officials should be from the same department. Each official may nominate only one candidate.
French presidential elections are conducted through two ballot system or run-off voting which ensures that the elected President always obtains a majority. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round of voting, the two highest-scoring candidates arrive at a run-off and the candidate who gets more than 50% of vote is elected.
He can be impeached by the High Court-a special court convened from both houses of Parliament on the proposal of either House, if the president fails to discharge his duties in a lawful manner.
PRIME MINISTER
The Prime Minister of France is the head of government. The PM directs the actions of the government & conduct the policy of the Nation.
In practice, the PM acts on the advice of the President to whom he is a subordinate, except when there is cohabitation in which case his responsibilities are akin to those of a PM in a parliamentary system.
[COHABITATION When the majority of the Assembly dont agree with the president, this leads to cohabitation. If this happens, the president's power is diminished (only those powers which are to be exercised through PM vis-a-vis National Assembly), as much of the de facto power relies on a supportive PM and National Assembly, and is not directly attributed to the post of president. When the majority of the Assembly sides with him, the President can take a more active role and may, in effect, direct government policy. When the president and the prime minister come from opposing parties, the president is responsible for foreign policy and the prime minister for domestic policy.
When PM + President=same political party President is boss.
Otherwise, cohabitation = sharing of power b/w President and PM.]
ELECTION The Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic.
He has no fixed term, remains in office while commanding the confidence of the National Assembly and the President of the Republic.
* PARLIAMENT OF FRANCE
The Parliament of France has a bicameral legislature, consists of two houses:
* National Assembly;
* Senate.
Unlike the President of India, the French President under the Constitution of 1958 is not the component part of Parliament.
The powers of both houses are about same except the National Assembly can cause a government to fall if an absolute majority of the total Assembly membership votes a censure motion.
Parliament meets for one 9 month session every year and under special circumstances, the President can call an additional session. As in India, the cabinet has a strong influence in shaping the agenda of Parliament.
LEGISLATIVE PROCEDURE Bills may be introduced in either of the houses of Parliament, except for finance bills which must be submitted and read first in National Assembly.
The legislative initiative is exercised concurrently by the government and members of Parliament but private members bill cannot increase the financial load of the state without providing for funding. All bills must undergo compulsory advisory review by the highest administrative court, the Council of State before being submitted to parliament.
If both houses dont choose to adopt the text identically, it is sent before a commission made of equal numbers of members of both houses, which tries to harmonize the text. If it doesnt manage to do so, the National Assembly can vote the text and have the final say on it; however laws related to the composition of the Senate cannot be voted in this manner.
The bill is then sent to the President for signature. At this point,
* The President of France, the speaker of either house or a delegation of 60 deputies or 60 senators can ask for the text to undergo constitutional review before being put into force; it is then sent before the Constitutional Council.
* The President can also, only once per law and with the countersigning of the Prime minister, send the law back to parliament for another review.
* Otherwise, the President must sign the law, after being countersigned by the Prime minister and the concerned ministers.
The power to dissolve Parliament belongs to the President of the republic. He can dissolve the Assembly at any time and for any reason solely at his discretion. There is only one limitation; he cannot dissolve it twice within the same year.
* NATIONAL ASSEMBLY The National Assembly has 577 members, these are known as Deputies.
ELECTION Deputies are directly elected for 5 year term through direct elections (single-member constituency through a two-round system).
[What is a two-round system?
To be elected in the first round of voting, a candidate must obtain at least 50% of the votes polled, with a turn-out of at least 25% of the registered voters. If no candidate is elected in the first round, those who poll in excess of 12.5% of the registered voters in the first-round vote are entered in the second round of voting.
In the second round, the candidate who receives the most no. of votes is elected.]
QUALIFICATIONS one must be
* at least 23 years old;
* of French citizenship, and
* Not subject to a sentence of deprivation of civil rights or to personal bankruptcy.
The leader of majority party is chosen as the PM. the National Assembly may force the resignation of the cabinet by voting a censure motion. However, party discipline +no horse trading ensure that, government completes a parliamentary term of 5 years.
* FRENCH SENATE The Senate has 348 seats. The senators elect a President from among their members.
ELECTIONS Senators are chosen by indirect election through an electoral college of about 145,000 local elected officials for 5 year term, and 1/3 of the Senators retire every three years.
QUALIFICATIONS Same as that of representatives except age must be 35 years.
* JUDICIARY OF FRANCE
Judiciary of France is independent and doesnt control by the other two branches of government. The most significant feature of the French judicial system is that it is divided into judicial and administrative streams.
JUDICIAL COURTS The judicial courts adjudicates civil & criminal cases. The judicial court stream consists of :
* Inferior courts,
* Intermediate appellate courts, and
* The French Supreme Court.
Judges have security of tenure and may not be promoted or demoted without their consent. Their careers are overseen by the Judicial Council of France.
ADMINISTRATIVE COURTS Administrative courts adjudicate on claims and suits against government offices and agencies. The administrative stream is made up of:
* Administrative courts,
* Courts of Administrative Appeal, and
* The Council of State.
The Council of State acts both as legal adviser to the govt and as the Supreme Court for administrative justice. It is the court of last resort, it hears cases against executive decisions and has the power to quash or set aside executive-issued statutory orders and regulations when they violate constitutional law, enacted law.
[Neither judicial nor administrative courts are empowered to rule on the constitutionality of acts passed by Parliament.]
CONSTITUTIONAL COUNCIL OF FRANCE Constitutional Council of France does the same work of judicial review over Constitutionality of the legislative acts as the SC of India. However, this is done in different manner altogether.
This is done by CCF
prior to their enactment, to all forms of law, but only after referral from the French President, President of the Senate, President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, or any of the 60 senators or 60 assembly members.
After their enactment, CCF exercise review after referral from French Supreme Court or the Council of State.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-FRANCEs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIAFRANCEINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresUnitary Republic
PresidentNominal HeadReal Head unless Cohabitation.While in India pres. is a rubber stamp of govt, French pres. is effective head of govt.
Vice-PresidentYesNo
Prime MinisterReal HeadNominal Head unless Cohabitation.Indian PM>French PM, in its functions.
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Republic
ElectionsParliamentary systemSemi-Presidential system
Lower HouseLok SabhaNational Assembly
Upper HouseRajya SabhaFrench Senate
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionYes, through the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtDivided into 2 streams: judicial and administrative- independent of Executive and legislative interference.Judicial Review is exercised by Constitutional Council of France.
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.Administrative Units are semi-autonomous
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyFrench civil service are open to citizens of the European Union except police and justice. Politically and religiously neutral.
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemMulti-Party System
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
Germany is a federal parliamentary republic. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Constitution provides for protection of Human rights and dignity, republicanism, Democracy and Federalism. These are Basic Law of the Constitution (eternity clause) and these cannot be removed or repealed by the normal amendment process and require absolute two-thirds majority of the Bundestag along with a simple two-thirds majority of the Bundesrat.
[Absolute two-thirds majority2/3 majority of all elected members
Simple two-thirds majority 2/3 majority of all members present and voting]
The Constitution provides for referendums for delimitation of the existing federal territory.
[The process of referendum is explained in Switzerland]
Federal legislative power is divided between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. The Bundestag is directly elected by the German people, while the Bundesrat represents the regional states (Lander). The federal legislature has powers of exclusive jurisdiction and concurrent jurisdiction with the states in areas specifically enumerated by the constitution.
* PRESIDENT OF GERMANY
The President of Germany is the head of state of Germany. As in India, the President has mainly ceremonial and supervisory duties.
(But he is not the commander-in-chief of the military. In times of peace the Minister of Defence and in times of war Federal Chancellor)
FUNCTIONS the President:
1. Proposes an individual to be the Chancellor and after that individual is subsequently elected by the Bundestag appoints his/her as Federal Chancellor, but Bundestag is free to disregard the president's proposal and elect another individual to the post, whom the president is then obliged to appoint.
2. Appoints and dismisses the remaining members of the Cabinet upon the proposal of the Chancellor.
3. Dismiss the Chancellor, but only after the Bundestag passes a Vote of No Confidence and appoints the successor requested by the Bundestag.
4. Dissolve the Bundestag
5. If the Bundestag elects an individual for the office of chancellor by a plurality of votes and not by majority, the president can, either appoint that individual as chancellor or dissolve the Bundestag and call for a new election(in case of hung parliament).
6. If Vote of Confidence is defeated in the Bundestag, and the incumbent chancellor proposes dissolution, then he may, at his discretion, dissolve the body within 21 days.
7. Appoints federal judges, federal civil servants and military officers, these appointments must be countersigned by the Chancellor or responsible Minister.
8. Must sign all federal laws as to make them come into effect but if he thinks them to be violative of constitution, he can refuse to sign them.
ELECTION the president is elected for a term of 5 years through indirect election by secret ballot (as in India), by the Federal Convention, the convention consists of all Bundestag members as well as an equal number of delegates chosen by the legislatures of the Lander (states). The delegates of each state are elected by the members of the state legislature under a form of proportional representation. The convention must be convened 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the current president. The convention is convened and chaired by the President of the Bundestag.
The president is elected by an absolute majority of votes cast. If, after two votes, no single candidate has received this level of support, in the third and final vote the candidate endorsed by a plurality of votes cast is elected.
QUALIFICATIONS the president must be
1. A German Citizen;
2. At least 40 years of age;
3. Entitled to vote in Bundestag elections.
IMPEACHMENT The President can be impeached by the Bundestag or Bundesrat for wilfully violating German law.
Once the Bundestag impeaches the president, the Federal Constitutional Court is charged with determining if he or she is guilty of the offence. If the charge is proved, the court has authority to remove the president from office.
1. FEDERAL CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY
The Federal Chancellor is the head of government of Germany. She has the right to set the guidelines for all policy areas including foreign and domestic policy. The role is generally comparable to that of Prime Minister in other parliamentary democracies like India. The Cabinet is the chief executive body of Germany and the Federal Government includes the Chancellor and his or her cabinet ministers.
She is the leader of the party or coalition holding a majority of seats in the Bundestag (federal parliament).
The Chancellor is responsible for guiding the cabinet and deciding its policy direction. The cabinet ministers are free to carry out their duties independently within the boundaries set by the Chancellor's political directives.
SELECTION The Chancellor is elected by the Bundestag after being proposed by the President. If elected, the Chancellor is appointed by the President for 4 years. The ministers are appointed and dismissed by the President upon proposal of the Chancellor.
DISMISSAL the Chancellor can be removed by constructive vote of no confidence, i.e. Unlike India where only vote of no confidence has to be passed, the Bundestag, while passing vote of no confidence must simultaneously agree on a successor.
1. BUNDESTAG
Constitutionally, the Bundestag is the main body of Germany's Parliament, which is not a bicameral parliament. In practice, the country is governed by a bicameral legislature i.e. Bundestag + Bundesrat.
Like other parliamentary democracies, the Bundestag elects the Chancellor and exercises oversight on govt on issues of both policy and routine administration. This can be done through binding legislation, public debates on government policy, investigations, and questioning of the chancellor or cabinet officials.
Like India, most of the legislative work in the Bundestag is the product of standing committees. The meetings of Bundestag are chaired by President of the Bundestag.
ELECTION The Members of Bundestag are elected for a term of 4 years and currently consists of 630 members which are to be chosen through Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system.
[But what is Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) electoral system?
MMP is an indigenous electoral system of Germany, half of the Members of the Bundestag are elected directly from 299 constituencies through first-past-the-post system, the other half are elected through the party list system in such a way as to achieve as much possible, proportional representation for the total Bundestag].
Each voter votes twice in the elections to the Bundestag. As per 17th Bundestag elections 2013, 299 were elected through direct vote (this is fixed) and 331 were elected through party list system (this is variable).
PARTY LIST SYSTEM Under party list systems, voters in an electoral constituency choose from among a group of candidates put forward by the various parties contesting an election. When the votes are tallied, each party is entitled to seat the no. of members from its list that corresponds to its share of popular vote; for example, if a given party obtains 30% of the vote, then it would send 3 out of 10 candidates to the legislature and those 3 would be chosen in order in which candidates name appears on the list]
Further, those parties which receive 5% of total national vote or win at least three directly elected seats are eligible for non-constituency seats in the Bundestag. This was done to prevent political fragmentation and strong minor parties.
QUALIFICATION all candidates must be:
1. Citizens of Federal Republic of Germany;
2. 18 years of age.
1. BUNDESRAT
The German Bundesrat is a constitutional body that represents the delegation of 16 Federal States (Lander) of Germany at the national level. Officially, it is not upper house but practically it is.
Like most of other upper houses, the Bundesrat plays second fiddle to the Bundestag; however, it does play a vital legislative role.
ELECTIONthe members of Bundesrat are not elected directly or indirectly, they are sent by respective state govts. Each delegation has a minister-president and other cabinet ministers. The state cabinet may appoint as many delegates as the state has votes. Each state is allocated at least 3 votes, and a maximum of 6. All of a state's votes are cast en bloc i.e. out of 3 member delegation, all 3 votes would be cast by minister-president for or against or in abstention of a proposal.
POWERSThe Bundesrat must approve all legislation affecting policy areas for which the Constitution grants the concurrent powers to the Lander.
The Bundesrat can exercise absolute veto against constitutional amendment, which requires an approval with majority of 2/3 of all votes in Bundesrat and against all other legislations it has a suspensive veto, which can be overridden by Bundestag by passing the law again, but this time with 50% plus one vote of all members and not just by majority of votes cast.
In case of deadlock regarding absolute veto, the Bundestag, the Bundesrat or the government can convene a joint committee to negotiate a compromise, this compromise cannot be amended and both chambers are required to hold a final vote on the compromise as it is.
President of the Bundesrat The post of the President of the Bundesrat rotates annually among the minister-presidents of each of the Lander. He convenes and chairs plenary sessions of the Bundesrat.
If the President of Germany is outside the country, or the position is lying vacant then the President of the Bundesrat temporarily assumes the powers of the President, until a successor is elected. While doing so, he does not continue to exercise the role of chair of the Bundesrat.
1. JUDICIARY OF GERMANY
Judiciary of Germany is independent and doesnt control by the other two branches of government The Constitution provides that the judicial power shall be vested in the judges and it shall be exercised by the Federal Constitutional Court, by the federal courts and by the courts of the Lander.
The judiciary is hierarchically integrated.
[The German judicial system includes 5 types of courts- Ordinary courts, Administrative law courts, Tax law courts, Labour law courts and Social law courts + the Federal Constitutional Court but all of them are not of our concern].
FEDERAL COURT OF JUSTICE the Federal Court of Justice subordinates all of the ordinary courts-local, regional and appellate courts, which adjudicates on civil and criminal law
FEDERAL CONSTITUTIONAL COURT the Federal Constitutional Court is the supreme constitutional court established by the constitution.
FCC exercises the right of Judicial Review, as like SC of India, and it may declare any federal or state law unconstitutional, if it violates constitution, thus making them ineffective.
The Federal Constitutional Court decides on the constitutionality of laws and executive orders under the following circumstances:
* Individual complaint a suit brought by any individual alleging that a law or any action of government violated his or her constitutional rights. All possible solutions in the regular courts must have been exhausted beforehand.
* Referral by regular court a court can refer the question whether a statute applicable to the case before that court is constitutional.
* Abstract regulation control the federal government, a government of one of the federal states or a quarter of the Bundestag's members can bring suit against a law.
Constitutional amendments passed by the Parliament are subject to its judicial review, since they have to be compatible with eternity clause of the constitution.
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-GERMANYs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIAGERMANYINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresFederal State
PresidentNominal HeadNominal HeadBoth Indian & German presidents are rubber stamp of govt.
Vice-PresidentYesNo
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadChancellorReal head.
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Republic
ElectionsParliamentary SystemParliamentary system
Lower HouseLok SabhaBundestag
Upper HouseRajya SabhaBundesratWhile members of Rajya Sabha are elected through Single Transferable Vote System, the deputies of Bundesrat are sent by govts of the states.
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionYes, through Constitutional provisions-eternity clause
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtCourts are independent of Executive & legislative interference. Judicial Review is exercised by the Federal Constitutional Court
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.Lander are fully autonomous within their legislative & executive sphere.
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyPolitically neutral institution
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemMulti-Party System
SWITZERLAND
The Switzerland is the Federal Parliamentary Democratic Republic. It is very close to become Direct Democracy. Executive power is exercised by the government and the Federal Council of Switzerland is the head of government and the govt is not concentrated in any one person. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
[Direct democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide policy initiatives directly, as opposed to a representative democracy in which people vote for representatives who then decide policy initiatives]
INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM Switzerland provides for Initiative- a citizen-proposed law and Referendum- govt-proposed law.
Initiative is a means by which a petition is signed by a no. of registered voters, forcing a public vote on
* A proposed statute,
* Constitutional Amendment.
Initiative in Switzerland is available in Federal Assembly on a question of Constitutional amendment, i.e. the electorate has the right to initiate constitutional legislation, though it is used in Cantons for both legislative as well as amendment proposals.
Referendum is a practice of referring measures passed upon by the legislature for acceptance or rejection.
In Switzerland, if both houses of Federal Assembly agree on a constitutional amendment, it must be submitted to voters and becomes law, if approved by majority of qualified voters but also by a majority of cantons (Double Majority)
In the Swiss Federation the referendum is optional in respect of ordinary law, but if 100000 citizens or 8 cantons make a demand, federal laws are submitted for approval of the people.
* FEDERAL COUNCIL
The Federal Council constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves collectively as the Swiss head of state. The Council consists of 7 councillors and each one of them heads one of the 7 federal executive departments. The Council acts like the board of directors of a major corporation.
The Council includes members of many political parties but due to the principle of collegiality, the Councillors are not supposed to publicly criticise one another, and they are expected to publicly support all decisions of the Council, even against their own personal opinion or that of their political party.
ELECTION the Councillors are elected for a term of 4 years by both chambers of the United Federal Assembly. Each Councillor is elected individually through secret ballot by an absolute majority of votes.
Every adult Swiss citizen can become a Councillor, but in practice, only Members of Federal Assembly or sometimes, members of Cantonal governments are nominated by the political parties.
The Councillors can be re-elected for an indefinite number of terms. After being elected, they can neither be voted out of office by a motion of no confidence nor can they be impeached.
PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATION
Every year, one of the 7 Councillors is elected by the Federal Assembly as President of the Confederation. The Federal Assembly also elects a Vice President. By convention, the chair of President rotates among the members in order of seniority and the previous year's Vice President becomes President.
He is not head of state or head of govt, both of these functions are administered by the Federal Council collectively. The President presides over Council meetings and carries out certain functions like those of a head of state but he is not head of state. In urgent situations where a Council decision cannot be made in time, he or she is empowered to act on behalf of the whole Council; however he has no power above and beyond the other 6 Councillors.
The decisions of the Council are formally taken by voice vote by a majority of the Councillors present at a meeting or through Consensus. The President breaks the tie.
* FEDERAL ASSEMBLY
The Federal Assembly is national legislative body of Switzerland. Swiss Constitution vests the supreme authority in the Federal Assembly. It is bicameral and composed of the National Council and the Council of States. The powers of 2 chambers of Federal Assembly are almost absolutely equal. It should be noted that the principle of separation of powers has not been made the basis of the Swiss governmental system. Federal Assembly has been entrusted with all kinds of functions which are not legislative but also executive and judicial in character.
It has been correctly observed that there are few parliaments which exercise more miscellaneous duties than Federal Assembly.
POWERS
* Legislative & Financial powers The Federal Assembly passes all federal laws and legislative ordinances, considers and passes the annual budget of Federation, approves the state accounts and authorise public loans floated by the federal govt. The Federal Assembly also votes on treaties and constitutional amendments.
* Executive powers The Federal Assembly exercises imp executive functions. Sitting together, the two chambers elect members of federal council, federal chancellor, and in case of war or threat of war, the Commander-in-Chief. The Constitution directs the Federal Assembly to take all measures necessary to ensure external safety and preservation of independence and neutrality of Switzerland.
[Switzerland is a neutral state= no ladai jhagda with neighbours +no dilchaspi in international power politics]
* Judicial powers Judges of federal Tribunal are elected by Federal Assembly; it also hears appeals against the decisions of Tribunal on administrative disputes. The Federal Assembly deals with conflicts of jurisdiction b/w different federal authorities. It also exercises the judicial prerogative of granting pardon & amnesty.
The Federal Assembly exercises general supervision over the federal administration and is empowered to issue instructions to the Federal Council in the form of postulates, a sort of directive to the Council to examine a particular question.
* NATIONAL COUNCIL the National Council is the lower house of the Federal Assembly.
ELECTION The National Council has 200 seats and members are chosen for the term of 4 years by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies.
[Multi-Seat Constituency= one Constituency and many deputies]
The deputies are chosen from each of the constituency of 26 cantons.
The no. of deputies a canton can send depends on the population of the canton but at least one deputy should be from every canton.
Each voter elects the deputies of the canton in which she/he lives and each voter has as many votes as there are deputies to elect. A voter cannot give more than two votes to the same candidate. Each citizen can vote for persons of different parties.
The no. of candidates a party can send to the National Council depends on the no. of votes party gets.
* COUNCIL OF STATES the Council of States is the upper house of Federal Assembly.
It has 46 seats which are filled from 26 cantons. The 20 cantons send 2 councillors each and 6 former half cantons send 1 councillor, for 4 year term.
ELECTION Swiss Constitution provides for democratic method and the mode of election is left to individual cantons.
* FEDERAL SUPREME COURT
The Federal Supreme Court is established under the Swiss Federal Constitution as the supreme judicial authority of Switzerland. It is the court of appeal for all decisions of the cantonal courts of last instance.
Because of an emphasis on direct democracy through referendum, the Constitution precludes the court from reviewing acts of the Federal Parliament, unless such review is specifically provided for by statute.
FEATURESINDIASWITZERLANDINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal featuresFederal State
PresidentNominal HeadNominal Head
Vice-PresidentYesYes
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadFederal Council is Real HeadAdministrative power is exercised by whole of council collectively and not by one person as in India.
PolityDemocratic RepublicDemocratic Republic
ElectionsParliamentary systemParliamentary system
Lower HouseLok SabhaNational CouncilBoth houses National Council and Council of States, have equal powers.
Upper HouseRajya SabhaCouncil of States
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionTitle 2 of the Constitution
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtFederal Supreme Court of Switzerland is independent of Executive interference, but not empowers to judge the constitutionality of a federal law as this right is exercised by common man through referendum.
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.Cantons are sovereign insofar as their sovereignty is not limited by the Federal Constitution, they exercise all rights which are not transferred to the Confederation
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyPolitically neutral institution
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemMulti-Party System
PEOPLEs REPUBLIC OF CHINA
China is the Unitary Socialist Republic and functions under Constitution of 1982.
It is a socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship and is led by the Communist Party, the vanguard of the working class. The constitution opposes the separation of powers by executive, legislature and judiciary. National People's Congress is the highest organ of state authority power.
* PRESIDENT OF CHINA
The President of the People's Republic of China is the head of state of China. He holds a ceremonial office.
[He is not Commander-in-Chief of PLA; PLA comes under the Central Military Commission]
POWERSHe promulgates statutes adopted by the National People's Congress. He appoints the Premier of the State Council, Vice-Premiers, other State Council members and all ambassadors to foreign countries, upon the NPC's decision.
[In practice, President exercise much more power by virtue of being the General Secretary of the Communist Party who is generally responsible for establishing general policy and direction of the state which are implemented by the Premier of the People's Republic of China, the head of government]
ELECTION The President is elected by the National People's Congress which also has the power to remove the President from office by a simple majority vote. He is elected by Presidium of NPC which is headed by the general secretary of the Communist Party and in practice and the general secretary is chosen as President (So, he choose himself as president).
He is elected for term of 5 years and limited to two consecutive terms.
QUALIFICATIONS Citizens of the People's Republic of China who have the right to vote and who have reached the age of 45 are eligible for election as President.
VICE-PRESIDENT
The Vice President of the People's Republic of China assists the President in his work.
The Vice President of the People's Republic of China may exercise such functions and powers of the President and the President may entrust to him.
In the event that the office of the President of the People's Republic of China falls vacant, the Vice President of the People's Republic of China succeeds to the office of President.
He is elected by NPC for term of 5 years and limited to two consecutive terms.
Mode of election, dismissal and qualifications are same that of President.
* STATE COUNCIL
The State Council is the chief administrative authority of China.
It is composed of
the Premier; the Vice Premiers; the State Councillors; the Ministers in charge of ministries; the Ministers in charge of commissions; the Auditor General; and the Secretary General.
The State Council is responsible to the National People's Congress, or when the National People's Congress is not in session, to its Standing Committee. The State Council follows the system of premier responsibility in work while various ministries and commissions under the State Council follow the system of ministerial responsibility.
It meets once every 6 months and b/w its meetings, it is guided by a standing committee. The standing committee of State Council includes the premier, one executive vice premier, 3 vice premiers, and 5 other state councillors.
The State Council controls the Ministry for National Defense but doesnt control the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which is instead controlled by the Central Military Commission.
FUNCTIONS
* to formulate administrative measures and regulations and monitor their implementation;
* draft legislations for submission to its Standing Committee or the NPC ;
* Prepare the economic policy and the budget;
* to conduct foreign affairs and conclude treaties and agreements with foreign states;
* to decide on the imposition of martial law in parts of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government;
* To exercise unified leadership over the work of local organs of state administration at various levels throughout the country.
PREMIER
The Premier of the State Council is the head of the State Council of China. He oversees the various ministries, departments, commissions and statutory agencies and announcing their candidacies to the National People's Congress for Vice-Premiers and State Councillors.
ELECTION The Premier is nominated by the President and then formally approved by the National People's Congress for 5 year term. In practice, the candidate is chosen by an informal process within the Communist Party of China. He can be removed by NPC.
* NATIONAL PEOPLEs CONGRESS
The National People's Congress is the highest legislative body of China. It is the largest parliament in the world with 2,987 members. It is the unicameral parliament with no second chamber. The NPC meets for about two weeks each year and the daily power is exercised by the Standing Committee of the NPC which contains about 150 members.
ELECTION Election of deputies to the National People's Congress is conducted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.
The ruling Communist Party of China maintains effective control over the composition of National People's Congress. By limiting the number of candidates in proportion to the number of seats available, the Party blocks unacceptable candidates. However, approximately 1/3 of the seats are reserved for non-Communist Party members which includes technical experts and members of the smaller allied parties.
The NPC consists of about 3,000 delegates who are elected for 5 year term by the provincial people's assemblies through indirect election.
Deputies are elected by the people's congresses of the country's 23 provinces, 5 autonomous regions and the 4 municipalities directly under the Central Government, the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and the armed forces. The size of each college of delegates is related to the number of electors in the constituency (proportional system)
QUALIFICATION all citizens of China who have reached the age of 18 have the right to stand for election.
PRESIDIUMThe Presidium of the NPC is a 178-member body of the NPC. It nominates the President and Vice President of China, the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, and Secretary-General of the Standing Committee of the NPC, the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, and the President of the Supreme People's Court for election by the NPC.
NPC STANDING COMMITTEE
The permanent organ of the National People's Congress is its Standing Committee, which is responsible to the National People's Congress. It functions as the highest body of state power.
The NPC Standing Committee is composed of the Chairman, Vice-Chairmen, the Secretary-General and other members who are elected from among the deputies at the first session of every National People's Congress. The members of the NPC Standing Committee generally include:
(a) Representatives from the Communist Party of China;
(b) Representatives from various democratic parties and patriots and democrats without party affiliation;
(c) Representatives of people's organizations;
(d) Representatives of the People's Liberation Army; and
(e) Representatives of minority ethnic groups with a population of over 1 million each.
[How Standing Committee is chosen is not specified in constitution, if dont believe me then look www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/law/const04.html ]
According to the Constitution and the Organic Law of the National People's Congress, the NPC Standing Committee exercises the following functions and powers:
1. Legislative right According to the Constitution, the National People's Congress and its Standing Committee jointly exercise the legislative right, including enacting and amending statutes, with the exception of those which should be enacted by the National People's Congress. Consequently, except for the Constitution and basic laws, The NPC Standing Committee undertakes a large amount of legislative work.
2. Right to supervise the enforcement of the ConstitutionThe Constitution gives the supervisory right also to the NPC Standing Committee in addition to the National People's Congress. As a permanent body of NPC, this ensures it can carry out regular supervision of the enforcement of the Constitution.
3. Right to supervise the work of other state organsThe NPC Standing Committee supervises the work of the State Council, Central Military Commission, Supreme People's Court; annulling those administrative decisions or orders of the State Council that contravene the Constitution or the statutes of the state.
4. Power of appointment and removalWhen the National People's Congress is not in session, the NPC Standing Committee selects the vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC controls People's Liberation Army) and members of the commission according to the nomination of the chairmen of the Central Military Commission; appoints and removes vice-presidents and judges of the Supreme People's Court (SPC), members of SPC's Judicial Committee and the president of the Military Court.
* SUPREME PEOPLEs COURT
The highest court in the judicial system is the Supreme People's Court and it is directly responsible to the NPC and its Standing Committee and therefore not free of interference.
It supervises the administration of justice by the people's courts at various levels (Basic people's courts at district level < intermediate people's courts at Prefecture-level < higher people's courts at Provincial-level < the Supreme People's Court).
COMPARISION B/W INDIA-CHINAs POLITICAL SYSTEMS.
FEATURESINDIACHINAINFERENCES(if any)
Type of systemQuasi-federal state/Unitary State with Federal features Unitary State
PresidentNominal HeadReal Head(in practice)Indian President < Chinese President
Vice-PresidentYesYes
Prime Minister/OtherReal HeadPremierIndian PM > Chinese Premier
PolityDemocratic RepublicSocialist Republic
GovernmentParliamentary systemCommunist system
Lower HouseLok SabhaNational People CongressNPC is the maai-baap in Chinese constitutional structure.
Upper HouseRajya SabhaNo
Civil & Political RightsYes, through PART III of Indian ConstitutionVery Limited, right to life and property are allowed in 1982 Constitution but not freedom of speech and association, even Press is controlled.India won.
JudiciarySupreme Court is independent of Executive interference. Judicial Review is exercised by Supreme Court & High CourtThe Supreme People's Court is under the NPC..Supreme Court of India > Supreme People's Court, in its functions.
Constituent StatesIndian states are semi-autonomous with ability to make independent laws with regard to state list and concurrent list BUT to limit all this Union govt has Governors, Art.249, 250 & 356.Except Special Administrative Regions (SARs) such as Hong Kong and Macau, no autonomy.Indian state govts are more independent than Chinese provincial govts as the latter are appointed by the central government
Civil ServicePolitically neutral officiallyPolitically controlled institution
Party SystemsMulti-Party SystemChinese constitution allows Multi-Party System but in reality Dominant One Party System exists.
SOURCES
1. Comparitive Politics Dr. S.C. Singhal
2. www.electionresources.org
3. www.iuscomp.org/gla/statutes/BWG.htm for Germany.
4. www.vescc.az/constitution/france-constitution-eng.html for France.
5. www.bk.admin.ch/dokumentation/02070/02480/04712/index.html?lang=en for Switzerland.
6. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/constitution/constitution.html for China.
7. http://www.hkhrm.org.hk/english/law/const01.html for China.
8. Google + wiki for statistics.
PERSONAL INFO
Shrey Khanna
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