Legal Mechanisms for Ensuring the Enforcement of Constitutional Provisions: A Comparative Study

Abstract

The public authorities of the state comprise the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Each bears the responsibility of implementing the Constitution within its respective jurisdiction and in accordance with the principle of the separation of powers. The legislative authority is responsible for enacting laws that ensure the orderly conduct of public life, operating under the constitutional framework and adhering to constitutional principles—as it is the Constitution that established this authority and defined its mandate. Consequently, should the legislature exceed the scope of its constitutionally defined legislative functions or enact laws that violate constitutional provisions, its actions are deemed unconstitutional.

A ruling declaring a law unconstitutional obliges the enacting legislative body to promptly repeal the unconstitutional law and enact a new one to regulate the same subject matter. Such a ruling creates a legislative vacuum that Parliament must fill with new legislation; while no specific timeframe is mandated for this action, the legislature must not delay in addressing the void. The executive authority also plays a pivotal role in upholding constitutional norms by implementing statutory and constitutional provisions, issuing regulatory bylaws, managing public services, and issuing the decrees and decisions necessary to give effect to the Constitution.