Features/Characteristics of a Good

Constitution
Characteristics of a good constitution: One of the essentials of a democratic
government is a good and well drafted constitution. This is so because the constitution
of a country is capable of increasing or decreasing the effectiveness and practice of
true democracy in that country. It is therefore necessary to have a constitution that
protects the rights of citizens in a democratic nation. Not only is it necessary for the
constitution to protect the rights of its citizens; it should also regulate the activities of
government officials and avoid dictatorship.

In this article, i will comprehensively explain some of the functions and

characteristics/features of a good constitution. This article is actually to educate legal
scholars, students and teachers on the essentials of a well drafted constitution. In
addition to that, this article will vividly explain how a good constitution can bring
about positive change in leadership and political system of a country.

characteristics of a good constitution explained

But before we move to the substance of this work, i would like to give you a
concise and well-explained definition of a constitution and its functions.

What is a constitution?

A constitution can be defined as an instrument of the government made by the

people, establishing the structure of a country, regulating the powers and functions of
the government, rights and duties of individual and providing remedies for
unconstitutional acts.

From the above, one can rightly conclude that the constitution is the supreme law of
the land. It sets forth the aspirations of the people which it governs, structures the
government, the rights and obligations of government on the one hand, and the rights
and duties of the individual on the other hand and the provision of remedies for
someone performs an unconstitutional action.

Kindly watch the video below for a clearer explanation of democracy before
we continue.

Table of Contents

 Purpose and functions of constitution

 Top 9 Features/Characteristic of a Good Constitution
Purpose and functions of constitution

The main purpose of a constitution is to have a working tool that would

enhance the organization of an association. The ambiguity and confusion, which
would have been the everyday experience of an association, are minimized with the
making of a constitution. A constitution ensures the smooth functioning of
government; it spells out clear details what should be done and what ought not to be
done.

A constitution is an instrument through which certain political objectives are realized.

In the case of Nigerian constitution, the fundamental objectives and directive
principles of state policy emphasizes the goal of the government.

It is the constitution that allocates and distributes powers and authorities to the
various organ of government. It spells out the kind of government to be adopted
whether unitary or federal. The qualifications for election and appointment into
various organs of government are obtained by the constitution.

Constitution serves as a significant education factor by declaring and propagating

political idea and their aims. It stimulates political values. With the constitution
citizens are afforded the opportunity of knowing their duties and obligations to the
state and its institutions. Aliens are given the opportunity of applying for
citizenship of a country through laid down procedure.

Another important function of the constitution is the enumeration of the rights of

individuals that makes up the association. The rights are not the creation of the
constitution but it ensure that such rights are protected.

A constitution provides for the type of party system to be adopted in a state. It also
provides for the procedure to the adoption in the formation of political party and the
conducts of parties in the pursuit of election into the arm of government.

Finally, a constitution specifies the procedure to be adopted in amending the

constitution. It states whether simple majority or two-third majority of members of
parliament can amend a constitution. It also state whether opinions of the citizens
must be sought through a referendum on certain amendments.

Top 9 Features/Characteristic of a Good Constitution

Below are the characteristics of a good constitution:

1. Adaptability: One of the most important characteristics of a good constitution is

its ability to adapt to the changing society. A good constitution must be flexible to
some extent. It must always adapt to the social, political, economic, technological and
other changes that are inevitable in the life of a country for its development and
process.

It should be elastic and also be liberally interpreted to meet the ever changing social,
economic and political needs of the country. Where the constitution is not flexible, it
will be difficult for it to meet the needs of the citizens in times of emergency.

This does not also mean that the constitution should be too flexible, as that will also
allow for easy interfering with the provisions of the law. The constitution should make
special situations where it can be amended to meet certain developments in the
society.

2. Responsibility and accountability: Another essential characteristic of a good

constitution is that, it ensure accountability in government by making laws which will
make the actions of the government illegal whenever the make decisions without
consulting the masses. A good constitution make ensure that public officers,
government and public institutions in the country, carry out their duties an obligation
with the consent of the people whom they represent.

In the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria for instance, it is provided that
where the president, governor or a senator act illegally, he can be removed from his
office if the a considerable number of the people who agrees to that. Even though this
is not really feasible in the country today, it is actually a good provision because it will
make government officials accountable (to some extent); knowing fully well that the
masses have the legal power to remove them from office if they misbehave.

3. Separation of powers of the government:

Qualities of a good
constitution
Separation of powers is one of the most important political theory that must be
present in a political system so as to avoid dictatorship. Sharing political powers
among the three arms of government helps to ensure that political powers are not
concentrated in a single hand.

This theory was propounded by Montesquieu. According to him, if political powers are
not shared, only one person or a group of people will control all the affairs of a state.
This means that there will be tyranny and abuse of power.

Based on this, a good constitution must ensure that the political powers are duly
shared within the arms of the government and that their powers does no interfere
with each other. This is evidently one of the characteristics of a good constitution.

4. Representation of the people in government:

What makes a good constitution

In a heterogeneous country, it is usually advisable for the constitution to provide for
the representation of the people in government. This means that the people should be
able to choose who can represent them at the federal, state and local level of
government.

This is usually done through the establishment of a parliamentary, such as, the
National Assembly, which is made up of the elected representatives of the constituent
parts of the country, and people, or representative of the constituent parts of the
country, and people, or representation of the people in appointment, for instance by
way of federal character in appointment into public offices.

5. Comprehensiveness: Another important quality of a good constitution is that it

must be comprehensive. It is important that the constitution be comprehensive
because many people depends on the information contained in it. If a constitution is
not comprehensive enough, it will lead to miscarriage of justice in many court cases
and that is not the purpose of a good constitution.
It should be noted however, that the constitution must not also contain unnecessary
information or words. The fact that the constitution must be comprehensive means
that it must explain its contents clearly and precisely, to the extent that it will be
impossible for a reasonable man to ask any question after reading it.

Lets take for instance; if the constitution is stating the punishment for the crime of
rape, it must as well provide instance where bail will be available to the offender and
also the number of years for the punishment of imprisonment. This will enable normal
citizens to understand the position of the law as regards rape in their country.

6. Protects the fundamental human rights of citizens:

Major Characteristics of a good constitution

A good constitution must also protect the fundamental human rights of the citizens it
was made for. Fundamental human rights are does rights which are inalienable and
immutable and are given to every citizen because he/she is a human being. Human
rights are very important. In the constitution of most countries, the fundamental
human rights of citizens are usually expressly states and protected to avoid breach.

In Nigeria for instance, the fundamental human rights of every citizen of the federal
republic of Nigeria are provided for in chapter 4 of the constitution of
Nigeria. Any right which is not provided for in that section cannot be regarded as a
fundamental human right.

In light of this, I will say that the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria is a
good one for protecting the human rights of its citizens. Same thing with the
constitution of the United States of America. The Bill of Rights protects the rights of
the citizens of the United States.

7. Clearity: Another undisputed feature of a good constitution is clarity. No matter

how just and fair the intentions of the drafter of the constitution may be, if he is not
clear, he has failed about 70% of his job.

In drafting the constitution, the legislature must not that the law which they are
making is meant for both the educated and illiterate members of the society. Thus,
they must make sure that simple words are used to express the exact intention of the
legislature for creating the law.

Aside from the fact that a clear and precise law helps for a better understanding of the
law, it also helps to save the time of the arm of the government which is responsible
for the interpretation of the law. Many a time, the judiciary depend on the Laws made
by the legislature to ensure justice. In light of that, whenever the language used for
making the constitution is not clear, it is a punishment to the judiciary which will
definitely have to interpret the law and apply it to real life situations.

8. Independence of the judiciary: Any constitution that really want to safeguard

the fundamental human rights of its citizens must protect and ensure independence
of the judiciary. Immunity of the judiciary is provided for in the constitution of many
countries of the world. In the United States of America for instance, the judiciary is
very well protected so as to avoid influence by other arms of the government.

List and explain the characteristics of a good constitution

As it is rightly said, “the judiciary is the last hope of the common man.” If this
particular arm of the the government is note protected, the masses will be in great
danger. Their rights will be breached and there will be not authority which they can
run to. On this note, a good constitution must protect the judiciary and make them
independent. This includes financial independence. It is apparently one of the
characteristics of a good constitution too.
9. It guarantees Equity, Freedom and Justice:

Features of the constitution

It is truism that the main objective of the constitution is to ensure Equity, Freedom
and Justice. The constitution can do this by stating punishments whether the actions
of anyone leads to inequality or injustice.

In the case of injustice, section 36 of the constitution of the federal republic of

Nigeria provides that everyone has the right to fair hearing. This means that
everyone has the right to be heard. Where this right is breached, the constitution will
treat any decision taken as a result of the breach as a nullity.

Take for instance, whenever the Judiciary takes decision on any matter, without
hearing the parties which the matter concerns, that decision will be treated as null
and void. In the United States, the constitution provides that “no state shall . . .
deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

This means that citizens of the United States must be equally protected by the law.