The Citation of Constitutional Laws Act, 2005 (Act No. 5 of 2005) is an act of the Parliament of South Africa which altered the way in which the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

and its amendments are numbered and referred to. An ordinary act of Parliament is referred to by the year in which it is passed and an identifying number within that year; the identifying number is allocated by the Presidency when the act is signed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

. The Constitution was originally numbered as "Act No. 108 of 1996". Various jurists, including Chief Justice

Arthur Chaskalson Arthur Chaskalson SCOB, (24 November 1931 – 1 December 2012) was President of the Constitutional Court of South Africa from 1994 to 2001 and Chief Justice of South Africa from 2001 to 2005. Chaskalson was a member of the defence team in the ...

, expressed the opinion that the Constitution should not be treated as an ordinary act of Parliament, because it was enacted by the Constitutional Assembly rather than by Parliament and because it was supreme over all other law. The Citation of Constitutional Laws Act put this suggestion into effect, removing the Constitution's act number and determining that it was to be referred to only by its title, "Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996". The act also dealt similarly with the eleven (at the time) acts amending the constitution. They had originally been given titles of the form "Constitution of the Republic of South Africa '' econd' Amendment Act, ''

ear An ear is the organ that enables hearing and, in mammals, body balance using the vestibular system. In mammals, the ear is usually described as having three parts—the outer ear, the middle ear and the inner ear. The outer ear consists of ...

'" and act numbers in the ordinary sequence. The Citation Act removed their act numbers, and retitled them in a single chronological sequence. The following table makes it clear: It also decreed that subsequent constitutional amendment acts should be named similarly.

References

External links

Official copy of the act
{{Constitution of South Africa Constitution of South Africa South African legislation 2005 in South African law