Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different

entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as
well as the basic rights of citizens and, in federal countries such as the United States and Canada,
the relationship between the central government and state, provincial, or territorial governments.
Not all nation states have codified constitutions, though all such states have a jus commune, or law
of the land, that may consist of a variety of imperative and consensual rules. These may
include customary law, conventions, statutory law, judge-made law, or international rules and
norms. Constitutional law deals with the fundamental principles by which the government exercises
its authority. In some instances, these principles grant specific powers to the government, such as
the power to tax and spend for the welfare of the population. Other times, constitutional principles
act to place limits on what the government can do, such as prohibiting the arrest of an individual
without sufficient cause.
In most nations, such as the United States, India, and Singapore, constitutional law is based on the
text of a document ratified at the time the nation came into being. Other constitutions, notably that
of the United Kingdom,[1][2] rely heavily on unwritten rules known as constitutional conventions;
their status within constitutional law varies, and the terms of conventions are in some cases strongly
contested.[3]

Constitutional laws n be considered second order rule making or rules about making rules to
exercise power. It governs the relationships between the judiciary, the legislature and the executive
with the bodies under its authority. One of the key tasks of constitutions within this context is to
indicate hierarchies and relationships of power. For example, in a unitary state, the constitution will
vest ultimate authority in one central administration and legislature, and judiciary, though there is
often a delegation of power or authority to local or municipal authorities. When a constitution
establishes a federal state, it will identify the several levels of government coexisting with exclusive
or shared areas of jurisdiction over lawmaking, application and enforcement. Some federal states,
most notably the United States, have separate and parallel federal and state judiciaries, with each
having its own hierarchy of courts with a supreme court for each state. India, on the other hand, has
one judiciary divided into district courts, high courts, and the Supreme Court of India.

The rule of law[edit]

The doctrine of the rule of law dictates that government must be conducted according to law. This
was first established by British legal theorist A. V. Dicey.
Dicey identified three essential elements of the British Constitution which were indicative of the
rule of law:

1. Absolute supremacy of regular law as opposed to the influence of arbitrary power;[13]

2. Equality before the law;
3. The Constitution is a result of the ordinary law of the land.
Dicey’s rule of law formula consists of three classic tenets. The first is that the regular law is
supreme over arbitrary and discretionary powers. "[N]o man is punishable ... except for a distinct
breach of the law established in the ordinary legal manner before the ordinary courts of the land."[14]

The separation of powers[edit]

The Separation of Powers is often regarded as a second limb functioning alongside the Rule of Law
to curb the powers of the Government. In many modern nation states, power is divided and vested
into three branches of government: The Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. The first and
the second are harmonised in traditional Westminster forms of government.[15]