constitution. (18c) 1. The fundamental and organic law ofa nation or state that establishes the institutions and apparatus of government, defines the scope of governmental sovereign powers, and guarantees individual civil rights and civil liberties. [Cases: Constitutional Law C=500.] 2. The written instrument embodying this fundamental law, together with any formal amendments. 3. A nations history of government and institutional development. _ This was the standard definition before the United States produced the first written constitution. It remains current in Great Britain and other nations that have unwritten constitutions. 4. Parliamentary law. A governing document adopted by an organization for its internal governance and its external dealings. _ The constitution may be an organizations most authoritative governing document, but if the organization has also received a charter or adopted articles of incorporation or association, then the constitution is subordinate to them. If the organization has also adopted bylaws, then the bylaws are subordinate to (and usu. more easily amended than) the constitution. The constitution and bylaws are sometimes contained in a single document. See governing document under DOCUMENT. Cf. BYLAW (1). constitutor (kon-stJ-t[y]oo-tor), n. [Latin an orderer, arranger] Roman law. A person who, by agreement, becomes responsible for the payment of anothers debt. constitutum (kon-sti-t[y]oo-tum), n. [Latin agreed arrangement] Roman law. 1. An agreement to pay an existing debt, either ones own or anothers, on a fixed day.• A constitutum was not a novation; the creditor could still sue the original debtor. It differed from a stipulation because it had to be for an existing debt. If the promise was to pay ones own debt, it was called constitutum debiti proprii. If it was to pay anothers debt, then it was constitutum debiti alieni. 2. The fixing of a day for the repayment of money owed.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 06:43:41 +0000
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