The constitutionalisation of development

• Main Author: DE VISSER, Maartje
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Constitutional Law
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sol_research/3024; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sol_research/article/4982/viewcontent/Constitutionalization___PV.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

There is a steadily growing interest among academics and policymakers alike in the role of constitutional law in fostering socio-economic development. This attention ties in, at a practical level, with the latest wave of law and development thinking, which conceives of rule-of-law institutions and democracy as existing in a symbiotic relationship with economic growth that together will propel countries to achieve higher levels of foreign investment and overall prosperity. The idea that public law, and the constitution more specifically, has potential in spurring development has for instance found expression across a range of the Sustainable Development Goals formulated under the auspices of the United Nations in 2016. By way of example, a concern with human rights protection – a classic function associated with constitutions – is evident in goals 3, 5 and 6, dedicated to, respectively, protection of individuals’ health, ensuring gender equality and access to clean water, including for sanitary purposes. Goals 11 (safe, inclusive and liveable cities) and 16 (strong justice institutions) create expectations for institutional refinement or innovation on the part of States, which are similarly likely to implicate the constitution, for instance in improving the constitutional guarantees for judicial independence or through the grant of greater constitutional autonomy to cities.