Editing Constitution (section)

=== Amendments ===
{{Main|Constitutional amendment}}
[[File:Constitution of the United States, page 1.jpg|thumb|[[United States Constitution]]]]

A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a [[polity]], [[organization]] or other type of [[Legal entity|entity]]. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, they can be appended to the constitution as supplemental additions ([[wikt:codicil|codicils]]), thus changing the frame of government without altering the existing text of the document.

Most constitutions require that amendments cannot be enacted unless they have passed a special procedure that is more stringent than that required of ordinary legislation.

==== Methods of amending ====
{| class="wikitable"
|+Procedures for amending national constitutions
!Approval by
![[Supermajority]] needed
!Countries
|-
| rowspan="9" |Legislature (unicameral, joint session or lower house only)
|>50% + >50% after an election
|Iceland, Sweden
|-
|>50% + 60% after an election
|Estonia, Greece
|-
|60% + >50% after an election
|Greece
|-
|60%
|France, Senegal, Slovakia
|-
|{{frac|2|3}}
|Afghanistan, Angola, Armenia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Djibouti, Ecuador, Honduras, Laos, Libya, Malawi, North Korea, North Macedonia, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Samoa, São Tomé and Príncipe, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Yemen
|-
|>50% + |{{frac|2|3}} after an election
|Ukraine
|-
|2/3 + |{{frac|2|3}} after an election
|Belgium
|-
|3/4
|Bulgaria, Solomon Islands (in some cases)
|-
|4/5
|Estonia, Portugal (in the five years following the last amendment)
|-
| rowspan="9" |Legislature + referendum
|>50% + >50%
|Djibouti, Ecuador, Venezuela
|-
|>50% before and after an election + >50%
|Denmark
|-
|3/5 + >50%
|Russia, Turkey
|-
|2/3 + >50%
|Albania, Andorra, Armenia (some amendments), Egypt, Slovenia, Tunisia, Uganda, Yemen (some amendments), Zambia
|-
|2/3 + >60%
|Seychelles
|-
|3/4 + >50%
|Romania
|-
|3/4 + >50% of eligible voters
|Taiwan
|-
|{{frac|2|3}} + {{frac|2|3}}
|Namibia, Sierra Leone
|-
|75% + 75%
|Fiji
|-
| rowspan="2" |Legislature + sub-national legislatures
|{{frac|2|3}} + >50%
|Mexico
|-
|{{frac|2|3}} + {{frac|2|3}}
|Ethiopia
|-
| rowspan="4" |Lower house + upper house
||{{frac|2|3}} + >50%
|Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina
|-
||{{frac|2|3}} + {{frac|2|3}}
|Bahrain, Germany, India, Italy, Jordan, Namibia, Netherlands, Pakistan, Somalia, Zimbabwe
|-
|60% + 60%
|Brazil, Czech Republic
|-
|75% + 75%
|Kazakhstan
|-
|Lower house + upper house + joint session
|>50% + >50% + {{frac|2|3}}
|Gabon
|-
|Either house of legislature + joint session
|{{frac|2|3}} + {{frac|2|3}}
|Haiti
|-
| rowspan="8" |Lower house + upper house + referendum
|>50% + >50% + >50%
|Algeria, France, Ireland, Italy
|-
|>50% + >50% + >50% (electors in majority of states/cantons)+ >50% (electors)
|Australia, Switzerland
|-
| 60% + 60% + >50% (optional)
|Spain (in most cases)<ref>"The Spanish Constitution and its reform" ''[https://blog.congreso.es/la-constitucion-y-su-reforma-ordinaria blog.congreso.es]''. Retrieved 28 August 2023.</ref>
|-
|{{frac|2|3}} + {{frac|2|3}} + >50%
|Japan, Romania, Zimbabwe (some cases)
|-
|{{frac|2|3}} + {{frac|2|3}} before and after an election + >50%
|Spain (in some cases)
|-
|{{frac|2|3}} + >50% + |{{frac|2|3}}
|Antigua and Barbuda
|-
|{{frac|2|3}} + >50% + >50%
|Poland (some cases)<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Constitution of the Republic of Poland |url=https://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/angielski/kon1.htm |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.sejm.gov.pl}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej |url=https://www.sejm.gov.pl/prawo/konst/polski/kon1.htm |access-date=2022-05-25 |website=www.sejm.gov.pl}}</ref>
|-
|75% + 75% + >50%
|Madagascar
|-
| rowspan="5" |Lower house + upper house + sub-national legislatures
|12/12
|Canada (in some cases)
|-
|>50% + >50% + {{frac|2|3}}
|Canada (in most cases)
|-
||{{frac|2|3}} + {{frac|2|3}} + >50%
|India (in some cases)
|-
||{{frac|2|3}} + {{frac|2|3}} + 75%
|United States
|-
|{{frac|2|3}} + {{frac|2|3}} + 50%
|Ethiopia<ref>"Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia". ''Article 105,'' ''[https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b5a84.html 21 August 1995]''. Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Retrieved 28 August 2023.</ref>
|-
|Referendum
|>50%
|Estonia, Gabon, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Palau, Philippines, Senegal, Serbia (in some cases), Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
|-
| rowspan="2" |Sub-national legislatures
||{{frac|2|3}}
|Russia
|-
|75%
|United States
|-
| rowspan="2" |Constitutional convention
|
|Argentina
|-
|{{frac|2|3}}
|Bulgaria (some amendments)
|}
''Some countries are listed under more than one method because alternative procedures may be used.''

==== Entrenched clauses ====
{{Main|Entrenched clause}}
An entrenched clause or entrenchment clause of a [[basic law]] or constitution is a provision that makes certain amendments either more difficult or impossible to pass, making such amendments inadmissible. Overriding an entrenched clause may require a [[supermajority]], a [[referendum]], or the consent of the minority party. For example, the U.S. Constitution has an entrenched clause that [[Article Five of the United States Constitution#Constitutional clauses shielded from amendment|prohibits abolishing equal suffrage of the States within the Senate without their consent]]. The term eternity clause is used in a similar manner in the constitutions of the [[Constitution of the Czech Republic|Czech Republic]],<ref name="CECEE">{{cite book|author=Kyriaki Topidi and Alexander H.E. Morawa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IhLKZKm7zGgC&pg=PA105|title=Constitutional Evolution in Central and Eastern Europe (Studies in Modern Law and Policy)|year=2010|isbn=978-1409403272|page=105| publisher=Ashgate Publishing }}</ref> [[Constitution of Germany|Germany]], [[Constitution of Turkey|Turkey]], [[Constitution of Greece|Greece]],<ref>[http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/UserFiles/f3c70a23-7696-49db-9148-f24dce6a27c8/001-156%20aggliko.pdf The official English language translation of the Greek Constitution as of May 27, 2008] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171114142907/http://www.hellenicparliament.gr/UserFiles/f3c70a23-7696-49db-9148-f24dce6a27c8/001-156%20aggliko.pdf |date=November 14, 2017 }}, Article 110 §1, p. 124, source: Hellenic Parliament, "The provisions of the Constitution shall be subject to revision with the exception of those which determine the form of government as a Parliamentary Republic and those of articles 2 paragraph 1, 4 paragraphs 1, 4 and 7 , 5 paragraphs 1 and 3, 13 paragraph 1, and 26."</ref> [[Constitution of Italy|Italy]],<ref name="weakcon">{{cite book|author=Joel Colón-Ríos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TqqQAzH2zxEC&pg=PA67|title=Weak Constitutionalism: Democratic Legitimacy and the Question of Constituent Power (Routledge Research in Constitutional Law|year=2012|isbn=978-0415671903|page=67| publisher=Routledge }}</ref> [[Constitution of Morocco|Morocco]],<ref name="EWC">{{cite book|author=Gerhard Robbers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M3A-xgf1yM4C&pg=PA626|title=Encyclopedia of World Constitutions|year=2006|isbn=978-0816060788|page=626| publisher=Facts On File, Incorporated }}</ref> [[Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran|the Islamic Republic of Iran]], [[Constitution of Brazil|Brazil]] and [[Constitution of Norway|Norway]].<ref name="weakcon" /> [[Constitution of India|India's constitution]] does not contain specific provisions on entrenched clauses but the [[basic structure doctrine]] makes it impossible for certain basic features of the Constitution to be altered or destroyed by the [[Parliament of India]] through an [[amendment of the Constitution of India|amendment]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://hindu.com/2004/09/26/stories/2004092600491600.htm|title=The basic features|date=2004-09-26|access-date=2012-07-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725005100/http://hindu.com/2004/09/26/stories/2004092600491600.htm|archive-date=2012-07-25|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Colombian Constitution of 1991|Constitution of Colombia]] also lacks explicit entrenched clauses, but has a similar substantive limit on amending its fundamental principles through judicial interpretations.<ref name="weakcon" />