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Constitutional amendment
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==Inadmissible amendments== Some constitutions use [[entrenched clause]]s to restrict the kind of amendment to which they may be subject. This is usually to protect characteristics of the state considered sacrosanct, such as the democratic form of government or the protection of [[human rights]]. Amendments are often totally forbidden during a [[state of emergency]] or [[martial law]]. * Under [[Entrenched clause#Germany|Article 79 (3) of the German Basic Law]], modification of the [[Federalism|federal nature]] of the country, or abolition or alteration of Article 1 ([[Dignity|human dignity]], [[human rights]], immediate applicability of fundamental rights as law) or Article 20 ([[democracy]], [[republic]]anism, [[Rechtsstaat|rule of law]], [[Welfare state|social nature of the state]]) is forbidden. This is in order to prevent a recurrence of events such as the Nazi [[Gleichschaltung]], when [[Hitler]] used formally legal constitutional law to ''de facto'' abolish the constitution. * Article 139 of the [[Constitution of Italy]] states that "the republican form cannot be subject to constitutional revision". * Article 4 of the [[Constitution of Turkey]] states that the "provision of Article 1 of the Constitution establishing the form of the state as a Republic, the provisions in Article 2 on the characteristics of the Republic, and the provision of Article 3 shall not be amended, nor shall their amendment be proposed". * [[Article Five of the United States Constitution]], ratified in 1788, prohibited any amendments before 1808 which would affect the foreign [[History of slavery|slave trade]], the tax on the slave trade, or the direct taxation provisions of the constitution. The foreign slave trade was outlawed by an act of Congress rather than by a constitutional amendment shortly after this clause expired in 1808. Also, any amendment affecting the equal representation of states in the Senate must be approved by every State. If the [[Corwin Amendment]] had passed, any future amendment to the Constitution "interfering with the domestic institutions of the state" (e.g., [[slavery]]) would have been banned. * Chapter 6, Article 120, section c of the [[Constitution of Bahrain]] prohibits "an amendment to Article 2 [State Religion, [[Shari'a]], Official Language] of this Constitution, and it is not permissible under any circumstances to propose the amendment of the [[constitutional monarchy]] and the principle of inherited rule in [[Bahrain]], as well as the [[bicameral]] system and the principles of freedom and equality established in this Constitution". * Article 121 of the [[Constitution of Norway]] provides that amendments must not "contradict the principles embodied in this Constitution, but solely relate to modifications of particular provisions which do not alter the spirit of the Constitution". * Section 284 of Article 18 of the [[Alabama State Constitution]] states that legislative representation is based on population: any amendments are precluded from changing that. * Part 4, Section, Article 288 of the [[Constitution of Portugal]] contains a list of 15 items that amendments "must respect". * The [[Supreme Court of India]] in the ''[[Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala|Kesavananda Bharati]]'' case held that no constitutional amendment can destroy the [[Basic structure doctrine|basic structure]] of the [[Constitution of India]]. * Article 60 of the current 1988 [[Constitution of Brazil#Seventh(1988 - Present)|Constitution]] of [[Brazil]] forbids amendments that intend to abolish individual rights or to alter the fundamental framework of the State: the [[Separation of Powers]] and the [[Federalism|Federal]] [[Republic]]. * Article 152 of the [[Constitution of Romania]] on the "limits of revision" prohibits amendments regarding the independence and territorial integrity of Romania, the independence of justice, the republican form of government, [[pluralism (political philosophy)|political pluralism]], and the official language. It also forbids amendments which restrict civil rights and liberties.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.cdep.ro/pls/dic/site.page?den=act2_1&par1=7#t7c0s0a152 | title=Constitution of Romania | access-date=February 6, 2013}}</ref> * Under Article 175 of the [[Constitution of Morocco]] as promulgated after a referendum in 2011, no revision may apply to the provisions concerning [[Islam|the Muslim religion]], the [[monarchy|monarchical]] form of the State, the democratic choice of the Nation or the established fundamental rights and liberties written in the present Constitution.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20131102041635/http://www.sgg.gov.ma/BO/bulletin/FR/2011/BO_5964-Bis_Fr.pdf (archived version, in French)</ref> In particular no change may be brought to the articles naming Islam the [[state religion]] or to those detailing the functions of the King as [[Amir al-Mu'minin]] (Commander of the Faithful). * Chapter XVI, Article 37(5) of the Indonesian Constitution states that the form of the unitary state cannot be changed.
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