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Constitutional Lawyer
Specializes in fundamental rights, government powers, and constitutional interpretation.
Did you know?
India has the world's longest written national constitution, and its original copy was handwritten by calligrapher Prem Behari Narain Raizada.
How subjects help
- Law: Argue in court that a new rule breaks a basic right like free speech.
- History: Read what the writers of the constitution meant when they chose their words.
- Political Science: Work out where the powers of parliament, courts and leaders begin and end.
- Philosophy: Debate what equality and freedom really mean when two people's rights clash.
A famous name
B. R. Ambedkar: Lawyer who chaired the committee that drafted the Constitution of India, adopted in 1949.
Try it yourself: Write a family rights charter
- Ask everyone at home which rights matter most in your house, for example the right to play (UN Article 31), to be listened to (Article 12), to learn (Article 28) or to some privacy (Article 16).
- Talk it through and pick the four or five that everyone agrees are most important.
- Next to each right, write the matching responsibility, the thing everyone does to protect it, like "We knock before going into someone's room".
- Work on the wording together until every line is short, clear and fair to children and adults.
- Everyone signs it. Put it somewhere you will all see it, and check it again in a month.
Constitutional lawyers, civil servants and political scientists work with written charters and constitutions that set out people's rights and who has the duty to protect them.
Adapted from UNICEF Canada (Rights Respecting Schools): Classroom Charters.
Also try: Weigh up a case like a judge.
Known for it in
USA, India, Germany, South Africa, UK