Dr Bhimarjun Acharya needs no introduction. He is a constitutional lawyer, an expert, analyst and commentator with clear views on governance and politics. Author of several books and journal articles already, Dr Acharya brought out a two-volume book on fundamental rights as enshrined in the constitutions of different countries in the world. The DMN News caught up with Dr Acharya to talk about his book Fundamental Rights in the World Constitutions.
What is in these two volumes and why is it important?
Fundamental Rights in the World Constitutions is a book in two volumes—Volume I and Volume II. In these two volumes, I briefly review the constitutions of 141 countries of the world. I touch upon the constitutional history of each of these countries, examining the contexts, political history and evolutions. I look into how many constitutions these countries made, how long these constitutions lasted and what is the current situation of those constitutions. I also look into different forms of government these countries have adopted such as presidential or parliamentary system, active monarchy or constitutional monarchy, federal or unitary systems and so on. This sets the context to deal with the main subject, the fundamental rights in the constitutions of these 141 countries. It is an informative book written in a descriptive style.
What are the findings of your book?
I cannot tell you everything right now as I want you to read the book to find more but let me tell you briefly what I found very interesting about it. There is a stark difference in terms of political stability, prosperity and good governance and rule of law and enjoyment of fundamental rights between the countries which often or frequently change their constitutions and those whose constitutions have lasted for a longer period of time. The countries where constitutions have been more enduring fare much better on these three fronts—political stability, prosperity and good governance and rule of law and enjoyment of fundamental rights. You can take the case of the US and Australia, for example. And the countries which often change their constitutions or amend them repeatedly without rational basis fare pretty poorly on these issues. Venezuela, Bolivia, Dominican Republic among others fall into the second category.
‘Countries which often change their constitutions or amend them repeatedly without rational basis fare poorly on political stability, prosperity, good governance, rule of law and enjoyment of fundamental rights.’
Again, another stark difference you will see is that the countries which have listed more fundamental rights in the constitutions are not found to have let the people enjoy those rights. Bolivia has a long elaborate list of fundamental rights in its constitution but the status of enjoyment of those rights by the people is poor. In contrast, the countries which do not mention fundamental rights in their constitutions or have shorter list of such rights are found to have granted so much to the people in terms of the enjoyment of fundamental rights. Countries like Australia, New Zealand and France fall under this category.
There is a lot to draw, learn and reflect on for countries like Nepal where we have the history of making as many as seven constitutions in less than six decades.
What inspired you to write this book?
As a student of constitution and law, I do a lot of thinking, retrospection on the political and constitutional history of countries including my own. Also, it is my conviction that progress of a constitution should be based on evolution, rather than on revolution. In a way I was testing my own conviction during the research for this book and let me tell you that my conviction has been vindicated. I am an advocate of constitutional stability as much as political stability and this book proves that the countries with constitutional stability do better with political stability, development and prosperity than those without it.
Writing is my passion and legal and constitutional issues are my niche areas. The book is a result of around eight years of hard work of research, review and writing. I hope it will be beneficial not only for the students of law but also for those who keep interest in politics and constitutionalism.
Comment