Editing Constitution (section)

==Constitutional courts==
{{Further|Constitutional court|Constitutionality}}

Constitutions are often, but by no means always, protected by a legal body whose job it is to interpret those constitutions and, where applicable, declare void executive and legislative acts which infringe the constitution. In some countries, such as [[Germany]], this function is carried out by a dedicated constitutional court which performs this (and only this) function. In other countries, such as [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], the ordinary courts may perform this function in addition to their other responsibilities. While elsewhere, like in the [[United Kingdom]], the concept of declaring an act to be unconstitutional does not exist.

A constitutional violation is an action or legislative act that is judged by a [[constitutional court]] to be contrary to the constitution, that is, unconstitutional. An example of constitutional violation by the executive could be a public office holder who acts outside the powers granted to that office by a constitution. An example of constitutional violation by the legislature is an attempt to pass a law that would contradict the constitution, without first going through the proper [[constitutional amendment]] process.

Some countries, mainly those with uncodified constitutions, have no such courts at all. For example, the [[United Kingdom]] has traditionally operated under the principle of [[parliamentary sovereignty]] under which the laws passed by [[United Kingdom Parliament]] could not be questioned by the courts.