1. Lengthiest Written Constitution
The Indian Constitution is the lengthiest written Constitution in the world, among all sovereign countries. In its original form, it consisted of 395 Articles and 8 Schedules, to which changes have been made through subsequent amendments. As of January 2020, the Constitution of India consists of 470 articles in 25 parts, 12 schedules, and 5 appendices. As of January 2020, there have been 126 Amendment Bills and 104 amendments of the Constitution of India.
Written and Unwritten Constitution Written constitution is one which is found in legal documents duly enacted in the form of laws. It is precise, definite and systematic. It is the result of conscious and deliberate efforts of people. It is framed by a representative body duly elected by people at a particular period in history. It is always promulgated on a specific date in history. A written constitution is generally rigid and a procedure separate from that of enacting ordinary law is provided for its amendment or revision i.e. a distinction between constitutional law and ordinary law is maintained. The first written constitution framed by a representative constituent assembly was that of the United States of America. This example was followed by France. During 19th century a number of states framed their constitutions, all of which were written, with the exception of England. Indian constitution is an example of written constitution. Unwritten constitution is the one in which no provisions or laws of the constitution are set in writing but they are documented despite not being codified in a structured manner in a single book. It consists of customs, conventions, traditions, and some written laws bearing different dates. It is unsystematic, indefinite and un-precise. Such a constitution is not the result of conscious and deliberate efforts of the people. It is generally the result of historical development. It is not made by a representative constituent assembly at a definite stage of history, nor is it promulgated on a particular date. It is, therefore, sometimes called an evolved or cumulative constitution. The constitution of England is a classic example of an unwritten constitution which is mainly a result of historical growth. However, distinction between written and unwritten constitution is not scientific. There is no constitution which is wholly written. Nor is there any which is completely unwritten. Every written constitution has an unwritten element in it and every unwritten constitution has a written element. |
Point to be noted: Although the last article of the Constitution is Article 395, the total number, as of January, 2020 is 470. New articles added through amendments have been inserted in the relevant location in the original Constitution. In order not to disturb the original numbering, the new articles are inserted with alphanumeric enumerations. For example, Article 21A pertaining to Right to Education was inserted by the 86th Amendment Act. |
There are various factors responsible for the length of the Constitution:
♤ One of the major factors was that the framers of the Constitution borrowed provisions from several sources and several other constitutions of the world.
♤ Secondly, it was necessary to make provisions for issues particular to India, like the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward regions.
♤ Thirdly, provisions were made for elaborate centre-state relations in all aspects of their administrative and other activities.
♤ Fourthly, since Indian states do not have a separate Constitution, provisions regarding the state administration were also included in the Constitution of India.
♤ Further, a detailed list of individual rights, directive principles of state policy and the details of administration procedure were laid down to make the Constitution clear and unambiguous for the ordinary citizen.