US Constitution - Art V

Article V of the Constitution deals with the procedure for amending the Constitution.

The key points are - Congress may propose amendments - if two thirds of each House agree; or two thirds of the state legislatures call a Convention for the purpose of amendment. (This last procedure has never been used)

Any such amendments proposed must be ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the States (38 states at present)

Twenty Seven Amendments have been passed. The first ten are referred to collectively as "the Bill of Rights". The 18th Amendment introducing prohibition was repealed by the 21st Amendment. An article on "failed amendments" can be accessed here.

A British Bill of Rights?

There is already a British Bill of Rights, passed by Parliament in 1689 - but the rights relate to those of Parliament - and not the individual rights we have associated with "Bills of Right" since the 18th Century.

The Green Paper "Rights and Responsibilities: developing our constitutional framework" was published yesterday. It is a consultation paper about rights and responsibilities - one option up for discussion is a legally enforceable Bill of Rights - though the government has signalled that it would prefer a more declaratory, but less enforceable, statement of rights.

It is a goldmine for students of the British constitution - and I recommend reading it closely.

The Green Paper is available at http://www.justice.gov.uk/docs/rights-responsibilities.pdf

and the statement in the House of Commons is at http://pubs1.tso.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090323/debtext/90323-0006.htm#0903235000003

The statement was also read out in the Lords - and the ensuing questions are available at http://pubs1.tso.parliament.uk/pa/ld200809/ldhansrd/text/90323-0005.htm#0903238000440