Knowledge of the foundations of state functioning often helps to understand the processes of an economic or political nature that occur in the state. For these purposes, legal scholars have developed and consolidated a whole branch - state law, which in turn is divided into domestic state law, as well as constitutional law of foreign countries.
A variety of approaches are used to reveal the concepts and sources of this phenomenon, and, therefore, it makes sense to consider them and identify the most accurate and complete.
The concept of constitutional law of foreign countries
When examining each branch of law, theorists reveal it in three main directions: as a science, as a branch of law, and as a scientific discipline.
In the light of science, one can imagine the constitutional law of foreign countries as a union of theories, assumptions, hypotheses, statistical data and the results of their analyzes, presented by prominent scientists, statesmen. In this context, this phenomenon is filled with doctrine, legislative documents that determine the type of functioning of law and the state.
As a scientific discipline, the constitutional law of foreign countries acts as an independent curriculum that analyzes the existing institutions of power, economy and social sphere in the formed legislation. It may also include dominant doctrines of both national and foreign jurists.
As a branch of law, this phenomenon cannot be differentiated. The fact is that in essence, there is a merger of all non-national branches of state law.
Accordingly, the concept of constitutional law of foreign countries appears in the form of a thesis that it is a set of doctrines and existing sources of law aimed at revealing the functioning of the law and the state in a specific country, as well as deriving general trends in the development of state law.
But for a greater disclosure of the essence of the constitutional law of foreign countries, it is necessary to consider its sources of legal regulation.
Sources of constitutional law of foreign countries
For a given period of time, jurists distinguish three types of sources: the constitution (or constitutional acts), the basic legislation of the country, and additional acts.
Based on the very name of the discipline we are considering, it is reasonable to start studying sources from the Constitution. This form is a set of norms that establish the general direction of development of the state. It is worth noting that the Constitution can be a single document, a tick and a set of acts (the second name in this regard is constitutional acts). There are also countries in which the concept of the Constitution is replaced by religious acts. An example is the Vatican or some Muslim countries in which Islam is particularly strong.
The main legislation is taken into account, as it clarifies constitutional acts. As noted earlier, the Constitution only sets the direction (with rare exceptions). And the mechanisms for implementation and operation are explained through regular legislation. For a more complete understanding, the following example can be given. The basic law of the state proclaims the human right to free choice of a political party. How this right can be realized, current legislation on elections explains.
Sources of constitutional law of foreign countries also include additional acts. They appear to be state constitutions, local legal acts, doctrines of recognized legal theorists. The issue of the inclusion of international acts in them is controversial. This is possible, but provided that these documents were adopted by the legislative body of the country in the prescribed manner.
Accordingly, the constitutional law of foreign countries in its formation and development operates with a variety of rules, located in the form of a "pyramid", the peak of which is the Constitution and constitutional acts.
Understanding the points disclosed in this article related to state law of foreign states helps to orientate in the variety of forms of state development and processes taking place in the modern world.