Constitutional Amendment Procedures in the World and Suggestions for Vietnam

Abstract

The Constitution, which has the highest legal effect, stipulates the most important and fundamental principles of the political regime, the organization of state power, human rights and fundamental rights of citizens. Therefore, amending the constitution is not only a serious legal event, which significantly affects the legal system in general, but also affects many aspects of social life. The constitutional amendment procedure shall be difficult and complex to avoid arbitrary change as well as be applicable and feasible to process. Guaranteeing this balance is not easy, and vary in different historical circumstances. This explains why the constitutional amendment procedure is still an important and preferred subject in legal studies though it is not a new issue. This article focuses on studying some basic theoretical issues about the constitutional amendment and constitutional amendment procedures in the world; on this basis, this article makes some recommendations for constitutional amendment procedures in Vietnam.

Keywords: Amending constitutions, making constitutions, constitutional review.