Constitutional supremacy

The idea

Under constitutional supremacy the constitution is law — the supreme law — and everything the state does must conform to it. Statutes, regulations and official acts inconsistent with it are of no force, and the courts, as the constitution's interpreters, hold the power to make that declaration.

This inverts the Westminster starting point: the people, through their constitution, bind the legislature they elect. The hard questions follow from that inversion — how judges chosen for skill in law acquire the last word over politics, and what keeps their interpretations legitimate. Every constitutional democracy answers differently: amendment formulas, appointment processes, override clauses.

An example

A legislature criminalises a form of political protest. A court holds the statute inconsistent with constitutionally protected expression and declares it of no force. Unless the constitution is amended — or an override invoked, where one exists — the statute is gone.

In Canada

Section 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982 states it directly: the Constitution is 'the supreme law of Canada', and any law inconsistent with it is 'of no force or effect'.

Constitutional supremacy

Parliamentary sovereignty

Separation of powers

Federalism