An eternity clause in the constitution or basic law of a country is a clause intended to ensure that the law or constitution cannot be changed by amendment. Eternity clauses are a type of entrenched clause in the constitutions of the Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey, Greece, Italy, Morocco, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Federative Republic of Brazil and Norway.
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The Constitution of India and the Constitution of Colombia contain similar provisions aimed at making it difficult, but not impossible, to change their basic structure.
Czech Republic
The Czech Constitution contains an explicit eternity clause, whereby the Czech constitutional court assumes the role of ultimate arbiter of the effect of European law on the constitution.
Germany
The German eternity clause (German: Ewigkeitsklausel) is Article 79 paragraph (3) of the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Grundgesetz). The eternity clause establishes that certain fundamental principles of Germany's democracy can never be changed, even by parliament. The fundamental principles, (i.e., "the basic principles" of Articles 1 and 20), are as follows:
The Parlamentarischer Rat (Parliamentary Council) included the eternity clause in its Basic Law specifically to prevent a new "legal" pathway to a dictatorship as was the case in the Weimar Republic with the Enabling Act of 1933.
It is not possible for any political party, any legislation or any national commitment to violate "the basic principles" of "this Basic Law" laid down in Articles 1 and 20. Furthermore, the only way that Articles 1 and 20 can be amended is through Article 146, which requires "a constitution that is adopted by a free decision of the German People."
Unlike the Weimar Constitution, which made human rights only an objective, the eternity clause and Articles 1 and 20 make specific demands of "all state authority" regarding "human rights" (that is, "the basic rights" guaranteed in "this Basic Law") and have established specific legislative, executive and judicial organs in "the constitutional order" of "this Basic Law", each with separate functions bound by the law. These are "the basic principles" of the democratic rule of law (German: Rechtsstaat) and the separation of powers, which are principles endorsed by three United Nations resolutions.
India
Courts have held in the basic structure doctrine that certain basic features of the Constitution of India cannot be modified through amendment.
Iran
The final Article of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Art. 177, ensures that particular aspects of the Constitution are unalterable. These include the Islamic character of government and laws, the objectives of the republic, the democratic character of the government, “the absolute wilayat al-'amr and the leadership of the Ummah,” the administration of the country by referendum, and the official religion of Islam.
Morocco
In the Constitution of Morocco, eternity clauses exist that ensure certain provisions cannot be amended, including the role of Islam in the nation's law, and the role of the King of Morocco in law.
Brazil
Article 60 paragraph 4th of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil, lists four subject areas of the Constitution that cannot be amended:
- format of the federation;
- direct, secret universal and periodic voting;
- separation of powers; and
- individual rights and guarantees.
There are other implicitly clauses that cannot be amended, mostly because they are dependent of the subjects above.