The Impact of Internationalisation on National Constitutions

Cheryl Saunders 

Melbourne Law School
December 18, 2013

A Chen (ed), Constitutionalism in Asia in the Early Twenty-First Century, 2014, Forthcoming 
U of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 671 
Abstract:      

Internationalisation has caused significant convergence of the national constitutional systems of the world. Internationalisation occurs along vertical lines through the influence of international and supranational norms, institutions and processes on national constitutions as well through the horizontal movement of constitutional principles and practices across states. This chapter identifies the principal paths along which internationalisation occurs and how they contribute to convergence. It shows, however, that while internationalisation has reduced some differences between the constitutions of an increasing range of states, it has not eradicated difference altogether. Rather, internationalisation affects countries and constitutions to different degrees, and constitutions continue to have a distinctive relationship with the states for which they were made that affects their form and operation in practice. The chapter concludes by considering the implications of internationalisation for comparative constitutional method. It argues that despite internationalisation, comparative tools are as necessary as ever to understand national constitutional arrangements. Using Asia as an example, the chapter suggests that regional groupings of states may offer a useful taxonomy for the purposes of constitutional comparison and accommodate the twin realities of convergence and difference.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 27

Keywords: comparative, constitutions, internationalisation, globalisation, convergence, Asia

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2369675