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Author	Prof Manwendra Kumar Tiwari
Organisation/Institution	Chanakya National Law University, Patna, Bihar
Country	INDIA
Panel	Constitutional and Admin Law
Title	Unconstitutional Constitutional Amendments- A Comparative study of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
Abstract	The Supreme Court of India is known globally as the pioneer of the constitutional doctrine enabling the constitution courts the power and authority to declare a constitutional amendment to be unconstitutional. This doctrine has also generated debates in the two neighbouring countries, namely- Pakistan and Bangladesh. Bangladesh embraced the doctrine completely where the judiciary stamped its authority and assigned to itself the power to determine the constitutionality of the constitutional amendments. In Pakistan, despite the whispers around this doctrine in the judicial corridors, the Parliamentary sovereignty on the questions of constitutional amendment has remained legally unassailable. The Bangladesh Parliament by the 15th Constitution Amendment added the 'eternity clause' to the Constitution of Bangladesh making the added clause immune from the amendment powers of the future Parliament. In the process, the Bangladesh Parliament by this amendment also took away the judicial power to determine the constitutionality of this amendment, which made certain constitutional provisions unamendable. This is a unique case of the Parliament asserting its power to determine the basic structure of the Constitution, by providing for the eternity clause in the Constitution. While some original Constitutions do provide for eternity clauses, adding the same by an amendment gives rise to a new constitutional jurisprudence. The passage of the 27th Constitution Amendment in Pakistan providing for the special powers and privileges to the Army Chief in Pakistan and the establishment of the Federal Constitution Court raises questions about the extent of Parliamentary sovereignty in not so well functioning democracies. The paper will study the normative reasons for the non-application of the basic structure doctrine in Pakistan and its application in Bangladesh. In the process, the paper attempts to map the justified reasons for reception or non-reception of this constitutional doctrine in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Biography	I work as a Professor of Constitutional Law at the Chanakya National Law University, Patna, Bihar (India). I have been teaching Legal Theory and Constitutional Law since 2008. My work has found home in places like International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, Indian Law Review, Indian Journal of International Law, Economic & Political Weekly. I hold a Ph.D. degree in law. My doctoral study was on the Constitutional Adjudication of Socio-economic Rights in India. My reserach interests include Legal Theory & Jurisprudence, Comparative Constitutional Law, Public International Law and Penology.