Guys, what does the term “constitutional review” actually mean? And what’s the connection between constitutional review and constitutional amendments?
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“Constitutional review” is the evaluation of laws to make sure that they don’t contradict the constitution, which is the highest law in the state/country that has it. So, as an easy (silly) example, if the Constitution says “freedom of speech” and a law gets passed that says “If you say the word ‘orange’ you go to jail,” that law would be found *unconstitutional* upon review. That’s one of the major jobs of the high court system (like the Supreme Court) in many countries.
Constitutional amendments are actual *changes* to the Constitution, which will then become the new highest law. And they’re usually done by the legislature or by the people as a whole – since these become part of the Constitution, they are usually much harder to pass than normal laws, and require a sizable vote. So to use our silly example, a constitutional amendment could be passed saying “Freedom of speech, *except* for the word ‘orange.'” And then a law that said “Say orange, go to jail” would hold up to constitutional review.
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