د "اساسي قانون" د بڼو تر مېنځ توپير

=== Early legal codes ===

Excavations in modern-day [[Iraq]] by [[Ernest de Sarzec]] in 1877 found evidence of the earliest known code of justice, issued by the [[Sumer]]ian king [[Urukagina]] of [[Lagash]] ''ca'' 2300 BC. Perhaps the earliest prototype for a law of government, this document itself has not yet been discovered; however it is known that it allowed some rights to his citizens. For example, it is known that it relieved tax for widows and orphans, and protected the poor from the [[usury]] of the rich.

After that, many governments ruled by special codes of written laws. The oldest such document still known to exist seems to be the [[Code of Ur-Nammu]] of [[Ur]] (''ca'' 2050 BC). Some of the better-known ancient law codes include the code of [[Lipit-Ishtar]] of [[Isin]], the [[code of Hammurabi]] of [[Babylonia]], the [[Hittite laws|Hittite code]], the [[Assyrian law|Assyrian code]] and [[613 Commandments|Mosaic law]].

 

''No free man shall be arrested, or imprisoned, or deprived of his property, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way destroyed, nor shall we go against him or send against him, unless by legal judgement of his peers, or by the law of the land.''

 

 

This provision became the cornerstone of English liberty after that point. The [[social contract]] in the original case was between the king and the nobility, but was gradually extended to all of the people. It led to the system of [[Constitutional Monarchy]], with further reforms shifting the balance of power from the monarchy and nobility to the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]].

 

=== Modern constitutions ===

 

The earliest written constitution still governing a sovereign nation today may be that of [[San Marino]]. The ''[[Constitution of San Marino|Leges Statutae Republicae Sancti Marini]]'' was written in Latin and consists of six books. The first book, with 62 articles, establishes councils, courts, various executive officers and the powers assigned to them. The remaining books cover criminal and civil law, judicial procedures and remedies. Written in 1600, the document was based upon the ''Statuti Comunali'' (Town Statute) of 1300, itself influenced by the ''Codex Justinianus'', and it remains in force today.

 

== Governmental constitutions ==

 

Most commonly, the term ''constitution'' refers to a set of rules and principles that define the nature and extent of government. Most constitutions seek to regulate the relationship between institutions of the state, in a basic sense the relationship between the executive, legislature and the judiciary, but also the relationship of institutions within those branches. For example, executive branches can be divided into a head of government, government departments/ministries, executive agencies and a [[civil service]]/bureaucracy. Most constitutions also attempt to define the relationship between individuals and the state, and to establish the broad rights of individual citizens. It is thus the most basic law of a territory from which all the other laws and rules are hierarchically derived; in some territories it is in fact called "[[Basic Law]]."

===== Uncodified constitution =====

{{main|Uncodified constitution}}

Uncodified constitutions (also known as unwritten constitutions) are the product of an "evolution" of laws and conventions over centuries. By contrast to codified constitutions, in the [[Westminster System|Westminster]] tradition that originated in England, uncodified constitutions include written sources: e.g. constitutional statutes enacted by the Parliament ([[House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975]], [[Northern Ireland Act 1998]], [[Scotland Act 1998]], [[Government of Wales Act 1998]], [[European Communities Act 1972]] and [[Human Rights Act 1998]]); and also unwritten sources: [[Constitutional convention (political custom)|constitutional conventions]], observation of [[precedent]]s, [[royal prerogative]]s, [[convention (norm)|custom]] and tradition, such as always holding the General Election on Thursdays; together these constitute the [[British constitutional law]]. In the days of the [[British Empire]], the [[Judicial Committee of the Privy Council]] acted as the constitutional court for many of the British colonies such as [[Canada]] and [[Australia]] which had federal constitutions.

 

 

==== Entrenchment ====

The presence or lack of entrenchment is a fundamental feature of constitutions. Entrenchment in general means that amending a constitution is a more difficult process than that for modifying ordinary laws. Some constitutions also contain [[entrenched clause]]s, i.e. articles stating that certain modifications are either more difficult to make than normal modifications, or impossible to make at all. Entrenchment is an inherent feature in most written constitutions. The US constitution is an example of an entrenched constitution, and the UK constitution is an example of a constitution that is not entrenched.

 

 

<!--Categories-->

[[وېشنيزه:Constitutions| ]]

[[وېشنيزه:Constitutional law]]

 

{{Link FA|ko}}

 

[[als:Verfassung]]

[[ro:Constituţie]]

[[ru:Конституция]]

[[scn:Custituzzioni]]

[[sh:Ustav]]