Constitution as a living document
Also called: Living constitution, Living document · Topic: Amendment of the Constitution and the Basic Structure · NCERT: Class 7, Ch 10 "The Constitution of India: An Introduction"; Class 9, Ch 6 "Democracy"; Class 11, Ch 1 "Constitution: Why and How?"; Class 11, Ch 9 "Constitution as a Living Document"
Meaning
A living document is a constitution that changes with experience, as a living being does, and so it lasts. India's Constitution has stayed in force since 1950 while the USSR and France replaced theirs several times. It changes in three ways: formal amendments, court interpretation and political practice. Its core values and basic structure, meaning the essential features no amendment can destroy, stay fixed. Two things help: the judiciary, which insists that even good aims must be pursued within the law, and political maturity, as all parties came to accept the basic structure.
Example
The basic structure doctrine from Kesavananda Bharati (1973) is not written anywhere in the text. The Court read it from the spirit of the Constitution, so the doctrine is itself an example of a living constitution. In 1949, Lakshminarayan Sahu predicted that the Constitution would "break down soon", but he was proved wrong.
Don't confuse with
- Flexible constitution: a flexible constitution can be amended like an ordinary law, as in Britain. India's Constitution adapts but still mixes rigid and flexible amendment procedures.
Related concepts
- Informal amendment of the Constitution
- National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution