Capstone: Reading the Constitution Yourself
Flashcards on the six-step method for analysing a real constitutional problem from facts to remedy.
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Questions Covered in This Set
11 cards to master
What are the six steps of the constitutional analysis method?
1) State facts (was it the State?), 2) Identify the instrument, 3) Check legislative competence, 4) Locate the affected right, 5) Apply the correct test, 6) Ask about remedy and forum.
Article 12 — why is it the first question you ask?
It defines 'the State' (government, Parliament, State legislatures, local bodies, 'other authorities'). Most Fundamental Rights bind only the State, so a private employer's refusal is usually not a Fundamental Rights problem.
Which Fundamental Rights bind private persons too?
Articles 15(2), 17 (untouchability), 23 (trafficking/forced labour) and 24 (child labour).
How does the test differ for an ordinary law versus a constitutional amendment?
Ordinary laws must satisfy the entire Constitution; constitutional amendments need only survive the basic structure doctrine.
How do you check competence?
Use Article 246 and the Seventh Schedule: Union List (defence, foreign affairs, banking), State List (public order, police, health, land), Concurrent List (criminal law, education, forests). A State law on a Union List subject is void however reasonable.
What is the two-part Article 14 test?
Intelligible differentia + rational nexus with the object of the law; post-Royappa/Maneka, also ask whether the measure is arbitrary.
What must a restriction on Article 19(1) freedoms satisfy?
It must fall within the specific grounds in clauses (2)–(6) — security of State, public order, decency, morality, defamation, incitement to an offence, etc. — and must be reasonable.
What does Maneka Gandhi (1978) require under Article 21?
There must be a law (not mere executive whim) and the procedure must be fair, just and reasonable — not merely any procedure established by law.
What are the four limbs of proportionality (Puttaswamy, 2017)?
(a) Legitimate aim, (b) rational connection, (c) necessity — no less restrictive alternative, (d) balancing of benefit against harm.
Article 32 vs Article 226 — which forum and what scope?
Article 32 goes to the Supreme Court and covers only Fundamental Rights (and is itself a Fundamental Right); Article 226 goes to a High Court and is wider, covering legal rights too.
In the internet shutdown example, why do Fundamental Rights apply?
A District Magistrate is plainly 'the State' under Article 12; the order is executive/delegated legislation, so it must satisfy both the parent statute and the Constitution.
