Disaggregating dismemberment: nullity, natality, and the hollowing of constitutional renewal in designed written constitutionalism
| Autor | Ming-Sung Kuo |
| Cargo | Associate Professor at the University of Warwick (Coventry, United Kingdom). Holds a Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.) and an LLM from Yale University (New Haven, United States) |
| Páginas | 773-794 |
Licenciado sob uma Licença Creative Commons
Licensed under Creative Commons
Rev. Investig. Const., Curitiba, vol. 7, n. 3, p. 773-794, set./dez. 2020.
Disaggregating dismemberment: nullity, natality,
and the hollowing of constitutional renewal
in designed written constitutionalism
Desagregando desmembramento: nulidade,
natalidade e o esvaziamento da renovação
constitucional no constitucionalismo escrito
MINGSUNG KUO I, *
I University of Warwick (Coventry, United Kingdom)
M-S.Kuo@warwick.ac.uk
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8400-0451
Recebido/Received: 12.04.2020 / April 12th, 2020
Aprovado/Approved: 17.10.2020 / October 17th, 2020
Revista de Investigações Constitucionais
ISSN 2359-5639
DOI: 10.5380/rinc.v7i3.72831
773
Como citar esse artigo/How to cite this article: KUO, Ming-Sung. Disaggregating dismemberment: nullity, natality, and the
hollowing of constitutional renewal in designed written constitutionalism. Revista de Investigações Constitucionais, Curitiba,
vol. 7, n. 3, p. 773-794, set./dez. 2020. DOI: 10.5380/rinc.v7i3.72831.
* Associate Professor at the University of Warwick (Coventry, United Kingdom). Holds a Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.) and
an LLM from Yale University (New Haven, United States). E-mail: M-S.Kuo@warwick.ac.uk.
Abstract
This paper aims to rethink the idea of constitution-
al renewal through a dissection of Richard Albert’s
ground-breaking concept of constitutional dismember-
ment. It is contended that under the rubric of constitu-
tional dismemberment are two exceptional constitu-
tional phenomena: the ought-to-be declared nullity of
unconstitutional constitutional amendments and the
legal unity-defying, extraconstitutional expression of
what Hannah Arendt called “natality” in political action.
The thesis is that attempts to tame revolutionary con-
stitutional alteration with designed rules as to formal
constitutional change as Albert’s illustrates are missing
the meaning of constitution-making for a natality-driven
constitutional renewal characteristically dees designed
constitutional form. The concept of constitutional dis-
memberment is rst dissected in light of Arendt’s idea of
natality. With constitutional dismemberment unpacked,
Resumo
O objetivo deste trabalho é repensar a ideia de renovação
constitucional através de uma análise do inovador concei-
to de desmembramento constitucional de Richard Albert.
Alega-se que, sob a rubrica do desmembramento constitu-
cional, há dois fenômenos constitucionais excepcionais: a
necessária declaração de nulidade de emendas constitucio-
nais inconstitucionais e a extraconstitucional expressão do
que Hannah Arendt chamou de “natalidade” em ação po-
lítica. A tese é que tentativas de domar as alterações cons-
titucionais revolucionárias através de regras desenhadas
como mudanças formais à Constituição, como mostrado
por Albert, carecem do signicado de constitution-making
para uma renovação constitucional guiada pela natalida-
de, desaando a forma do constitucionalismo desenhado.
O conceito de desmembramento constitucional é primeiro
analisado sob a luz da ideia de natalidade de Arendt. Após
isso, na sequência observa-se que o constitution-making
MINGSUNG KUO
Rev. Investig. Const., Curitiba, vol. 7, n. 3, p. 773-794, set./dez. 2020.
774
CONTENTS
1. Introduction; 2. Dismemberment disaggregated: constitutional amendment on trial; 3. When consti-
tution-making becomes constitution-writing: constitutional natality dismembered; 4. In lieu of conclu-
sion: constitution-making is more than constitutional design; 5. References.
1. INTRODUCTION
Richard Albert takes studies of constitutional change to another level with his
erudite work “Constitutional Amendments.” 1 As he sets out in the beginning, the objec-
tive of Constitutional Amendments is “to bring formal amendment back to the center of
the eld of constitutional change.”2 This reveals Albert’s ambitious project “to guide tho-
se seeking to understand how constitutions change” with the hopes for “inspir[ing]
interest in constitutional amendment.”3 Notably, Albert’s target audience is not li-
1 ALBERT, Richard. Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking, and Changing Constitutions. Oxford
and New York: Oxford University Press, 2019. In line with Albert’s usage, I use constitutional change and con-
stitutional alteration interchangeably, which include what Albert calls constitutional amendment (proper) and
constitutional dismemberment unless otherwise specied. Notably, as suggested throughout Constitutional
Amendments, constitutional change may take place formally and informally. Formal constitutional change re-
fers to the direct alteration of the text of the codied constitution or other constitutional laws sitting on the
top order of the hierarchical legal system; informal constitutional change refers to such alterations taking place
through judicial interpretation, legislative enactment, or political practice. Both formal and informal constitu-
tional change/ alteration include amendment and dismemberment. Unless otherwise specied, my discussion
centers on formal constitutional change. As regards another form of constitutional change – the making of a
new constitution, it is referred to as constitutional replacement. All forms of constitutional change are consid-
ered the means of constitutional renewal.
2 ALBERT, Richard. Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking, and Changing Constitutions. Oxford
and New York: Oxford University Press, 2019, p. 2.
3 ALBERT, Richard. Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking, and Changing Constitutions. Oxford
and New York: Oxford University Press, 2019, p. 36.
it is further observed that the constitution-making trans-
mutes into the formal pronouncement of a new codied
constitution in Albert’s rigid tripartite classication of
constitutional changes into amendment, dismember-
ment, and enactment. Albert therefore inadvertently
reduces constitution-making to the formal enactment
of a new codied constitution with constitutional natal-
ity dismembered and constitutional renewal hollowed
out. It is concluded that Albert’s formalistic conceptual
framework of constitutional change reects the central-
ity of comparative written constitutions in the place of
comparative constitutional phenomena in current com-
parative constitutional studies.
Keywords: constitutional renewal; constitutional dis-
memberment; constitutional amendment; Richard Albert;
natality.
se transmuta em pronunciamentos formais de uma nova
Constituição codicada na rígida classicação tripartida de
Albert em emenda, desmembramento e promulgação. Al-
bert, assim, inadvertidamente reduz o constitution-making
à promulgação formal de uma nova Constituição codica-
da com natalidade constitucional desmembrada e reno-
vação constitucional esvaziada. Conclui-se que o conceito
formalista de Albert sobre mudança constitucional reete
a centralidade da comparação de constituições escritas no
lugar da comparação de fenômenos constitucionais nos
atuais estudos de direito comparado.
Palavras-chave: renovação constitucional; desmembra-
mento constitucional; emenda constitucional; Richard Al-
bert; natalidade.
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