Oxford LibGuides: Law & Religion: Constitutions

Finding the texts of national constitutions

The first two are available to holders of an Oxford SSO

Oxford Constitutions of the World
Alternative names: OCW ; Constitutions of the countries of the world, Constitutions of dependencies & territories

English translations of the constitutions and constitutional documents of the world’s nations and sub-national jurisdictions.
HeinOnline
See library within Hein called World Constitutions Illustrated
Alternative names: Hein Online ; HOL

HeinOnline includes five major collections:
The Law Journal Library includes over 500 U.S., U.K., Australian and International Law Journals. For most journals the date coverage starts very early (in many cases at the first issue). However the most recent editions (within the last calendar year) are sometime unavailable due to licensing restrictions. HeinOnline makes these journals available on a rolling yearly basis.
The Treaties and Agreements Library includes all U.S. treaties and agreements including those in force, expired or yet to be published.
The U.S. Supreme Court Library includes all U.S. Supreme Court opinions as published in the U.S. Reports
The Federal Register 1936-1995, and indexes to the register.
Legal Classics Library. Full text of over 100 legal texts including Blackstone's Commentaries (1803), Cardozo's Growth of the Law (1924), and Story's first edition of Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833). Provincial Statutes of Canada includes Provincial Statutes for ten of the Canadian provinces. Contains public and private acts passed by Canadian provincial governments. Current, revised, and historical content is now available for Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. Historical and revised content only is available for Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan.
All content consists of scanned images of the original printed editions. This allows you to view the content as it originally appeared in print complete with page numbers and pictures.
To save or print articles from HeinOnline choose PRINT OPTIONS followed by DOWNLOAD AS PDF. You will then be able to print out and/or save articles using Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The following are available to anyone with access to the internet

Constitute: the world’s constitutions to read, search, and compare
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Quickly find relevant passages. The Comparative Constitutions Project has tagged passages of each constitution with a topic — e.g., “right to privacy” or “equality regardless of gender” — so you can quickly find relevant excerpts on a particular subject, no matter how they are worded. You can browse the 300+ topics in the expandable drawer on the left of the page, or see suggested topics while typing in the search bar (which also lets you perform free-text queries).
•Filter searches. Want to view results for a specific region or time period? You can limit your search by country or by date using the buttons under the search bar.
•Save for further analysis. To download or print excerpts from multiple constitutions, click the “pin” button next to each expanded passage you want to save. You can then view and downlo
Codices: the infobase on Constitutional Case-Law of the Venice Commission
Also provides texts of the constitutions themselves in English and French. It is not limited to European countries

Countries with a written constitution may have a clause defining the Official Religion as for example Denmark (1953) "The Evangelical Lutheran Church shall be the Established Church of Denmark, and) as such, it shall be supported by the State.", Egypt (2014) "Islam is the religion of the state and Arabic is its official language. The principles of Islamic Sharia are the principle source of legislation."

The above are unofficial translations from Constitute Project : click link for more examples.

Some state constitutions announce the establishment of religious courts, and/or the status of religious law.

Written constitutions may have clauses overtly declaring the Separation of Church and State such as "France shall be an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic. It shall ensure the equality of all citizens before the law, without distinction of origin, race or religion. It shall respect all beliefs. It shall be organised on a decentralized basis." The above is an unofficial translation from Constitute Project: click on link for more examples.

Other constitutions may have clauses ensuring equality regardless of religion and/or equality regardless of creed or belief.

In the US, the First Amendment guarantees religious freedom. Congress is prohibited from either promoting one religion over others or restricting an individual’s religious practices. The same Amendment also guarantees freedom of expression, assembly, and the right to petition.

Related Commentary

Subject searches to try in SOLO
Freedom of religion
Religion and law
Constitutional law -- Religious aspects
Church and state
Human rights -- Religious aspects

United States. Constitution. 1st Amendment

Freedom of religion under bills of rights by edited by Paul Babie and Neville Rochow.
Call Number: Open Access book available free to anyone with internet connection
ISBN: 9780987171801
Publication Date: 2012
Open access
Constitutional Theocracy by Ran Hirschl
Call Number: Holders of an Oxford SSO can read this online via title link.
ISBN: 0674048199
Publication Date: 2010
Print copy is at General 510 H670b
Constitutional Secularism in an Age of Religious Revival by Michel Rosenfeld; Susanna Mancini
Call Number: Holders of an Oxford SSO can read this online via title link.
ISBN: 9780199660384
Publication Date: 2014
Print copy could be requested from Closed Stacks if preferred.
The Free Exercise of Religion in America Its Original Constitutional Meaning by by Ellis M. West.
Call Number: Holders of an Oxford SSO can read this online via title link
ISBN: 3030060527
Publication Date: 2019

Related Bodleian guide

Constitutions, constitutional & administrative law
by Elizabeth Wells Last Updated Apr 3, 2024 513 views this year

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