Constitutional Dismemberment in Latin America - Núm. 52, Mayo 2022 - Revista Derecho del Estado - Libros y Revistas - VLEX 903529008

Constitutional Dismemberment in Latin America

AutorRichard Albert, Juliano Zaiden Benvindo, Milton César Jiménez Ramírez, Cristian Villalonga
CargoWilliam Stamps Farish Professor in Law, Professor of Government, and Director of Constitutional Studies, The University of Texas at Austin/Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Brasilia/Professor in Law and Researcher in Constitutional Law, Universidad de Caldas (Colombia)/Assistant Professor of Law, Pontificia Universidad ...
Páginas97-133
RICHARD ALBERT*, JULIANO ZAIDEN BENVINDO**,
MILTON CÉSAR JIMÉNEZ RAMÍREZ***,
AND CRISTIAN VILLALONGA****
Constitutional Dismemberment
in Latin America*****
Desmembramiento constitucional
en Latinoamérica
ABSTRACT
Some constitutional changes are constitutional amendments in name alone.
These unusual constitutional changes dismantle the basic structure of the consti-
tution while at the same time building a new foundation rooted in principles
contrary to the old. They are self-conscious efforts to repudiate the essential
characteristics of the constitution and to destroy its foundations. We should
not understand changes on this scale as mere amendments. They are better
understood as constitutional dismemberments. These constitutional changes
disassemble one or more of the constitution’s elemental parts by altering a
fundamental right, a load-bearing structural design, or a core aspect of the
identity of the constitution. In this article, we draw from three jurisdictions in
Latin America—Brazil, Chile, and Colombia—to illustrate this phenomenon,
to expose its variations, and to suggest that it entails serious implications.
* William Stamps Farish Professor in Law, Professor of Government, and Director of
Constitutional Studies, The University of Texas at Austin. orcid ID: 0000-0001-5212-5292.
Email: richard.albert@law.utexas.edu Author of Introduction, Part i, and Conclusion.
** Associate Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Brasilia. orcid ID: 0000-
0001-5641-100X. Email: juliano@unb.br Author of Part ii.
*** Professor in Law and Researcher in Constitutional Law, Universidad de Caldas (Co-
lombia). orcid ID: 0000-0003-1149-4723. Email: milton.jimenez@ucaldas.edu.co Author of
Part V.
**** Assistant Professor of Law, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. orcid ID: 0000-
0001-5018-861X. Email: cvillalt@uc.cl. Author of Part iv.
***** Recibido el 4 de noviembre de 2020, aprobado el 20 de enero de 2022.
Para citar el artículo: albert, r., zaiden benvindo, J., Jiménez ramírez, m. c. y villalonga,
C. Constitutional Dismemberment in Latin America. En Revista Derecho del Estado, Universidad
Externado de Colombia, N.º 52, mayo-agosto de 2022, 97-133.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18601/01229893.n52.04
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 52, mayo - agosto de 2022, pp. 97-133
98 Richard Albert, Juliano Zaiden B., Milton César Jiménez R., and Cristian Villalonga
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 52, mayo - agosto de 2022, pp. 97-133
KEYWORDS
Constitutional amendment, constitutional dismemberment, constitutional
amendment procedures, Latin American constitutional change, Brazilian
Constitution, Chilean Constitution, Colombian Constitution.
RESUMEN
Algunos cambios constitucionales son enmiendas constitucionales solo de
nombre. En ocasiones, estos desmantelan la estructura básica de la cons-
titución y, al mismo tiempo, sientan nuevos fundamentos para ella sobre
principios contrarios a los antiguos. No debemos comprender los cambios a
esta escala como meras enmiendas. Ellos se entienden mejor como desmem-
bramientos constitucionales; es decir, esfuerzos deliberados por repudiar las
características esenciales de la constitución y reemplazar sus fundamentos.
Estos cambios re-articulan una o más de sus partes elementales, al alterar un
derecho fundamental, el diseño institucional de su regulación orgánica o un
aspecto determinante de su identidad. En el presente trabajo examinamos tres
jurisdicciones de América Latina –Brasil, Chile y Colombia– para ilustrar
este fenómeno y exponer sus variaciones y consecuencias.
PALABRAS CLAVE
Reforma constitucional, desmembramiento constitucional, procedimientos de
reforma constitucional, cambio constitucional en Latinoamérica, Constitución
de Brasil, Constitución de Chile, Constitución de Colombia.
SUMMARY
Introduction. An Amendment in Name Alone. 1. Constitutional Amendment
and Dismemberment. 1.1. The Conventional Theory of Constitutional Chan-
ge. 1.2. Dismemberment in the World. 2. Constitutional Dismemberment
in Brazil. 2.1. The High Rate of Constitutional Amendment in Brazil. 2.2.
A Dismembered Constitution? 3. Constitutional Dismemberment in Chile.
3.1. Gradual Transformation of the Constitutional Core. 3.2. Structural Dis-
memberment and the Problem of Constitutional Identity. 4. Constitutional
Dismemberment in Colombia. 4.1. Dismembermet in History. Some Notes.
4.2. Dismemberment and the Peace Accords. Conclusion. Legitimating Dis-
memberment. References.
99
Constitutional Dismemberment in Latin America
Revista Derecho del Estado n.º 52, mayo - agosto de 2022, pp. 97-133
INTRODUCTION. AN AMENDMENT IN NAME ALONE
Some constitutional amendments are not amendments at all. They are self-
conscious efforts to repudiate the essential characteristics of the constitution
and to destroy its foundations. They dismantle the basic structure of the
constitution while at the same time building a new foundation rooted in prin-
ciples contrary to the old. This reconstructed constitution becomes virtually
unrecognizable to the pre-change generation, for whom the constitution now
seems entirely new, not merely amended. And yet—here is the problem—we
identify transformative changes like these as constitutional amendments no
different from others.
These transformative constitutional changes are not properly called
constitutional amendments. They are better understood as constitutional
dismemberments.1 A constitutional dismemberment is incompatible with the
existing framework of the constitution because it seeks to achieve a conflicting
purpose. It seeks deliberately to disassemble one or more of a constitution’s
elemental parts. A constitutional dismemberment alters a fundamental right,
a load-bearing structure, or a core feature of the identity of a constitution. To
use a rough shorthand, the purpose and effect of a constitutional dismember-
ment are the same: to unmake a constitution.
Constitutional dismemberment is a descriptive concept, not a normative
one. A constitutional dismemberment can either improve or weaken liberal
democratic procedures and outcomes. For example, the Reconstruction
Amendments to the United States Constitution are better understood as
dismemberments. The Thirteenth,2 Fourteenth,3 and Fifteenth Amendments4
demolished the infrastructure of slavery in the original Constitution.5 They
tore down the major pillars of America’s original sin: the Three-Fifths Clause,6
the Fugitive Slave Clause,7 the Migration or Importation Clause,8 and the
Proportionate Tax Clause.9
1 This idea is drawn from albert, R. Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking,
and Changing Constitutions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.
2 Constitution of the United States, Amendment XII (abolishing slavery and involuntary
servitude, except as punishment for a crime).
3 Ibid., Amendment xiv.
4 Ibid., Amendment xv.
5 See
greene, J. Originalism’s Race Problem. In Denver University Law Review. Vol.
88, 2011, 517, 519.
6 Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 2, Clause 3.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid., Article I, Section 9, Clause 1. This Clause was made temporarily unamendable
until the year 1808. See ibid., Article v.
9 Ibid., Article I, Section 9, Clause ... This Clause was likewise made temporarily un-
amendable until the year 1808. See ibid., Article v.

Para continuar leyendo

Solicita tu prueba

VLEX utiliza cookies de inicio de sesión para aportarte una mejor experiencia de navegación. Si haces click en 'Aceptar' o continúas navegando por esta web consideramos que aceptas nuestra política de cookies. ACEPTAR