Does the Christian God have a place in a modern, European constitution?

A reference to God within national constitutions has been a legal custom in many European States, ever since nation-states began introducing their constitutions in the 19th century.1 It is not unreasonable to question God’s place within modern European Constitutions given Europe’s ever-diversifying population and the considerable decline in religious observance in recent decades. The unconceived EU constitution which was proposed in the early 2000s shunned the invocation of God in its preamble largely because of a cohort of people asking whether God belonged in a legal document that represents the spirit of a modern Europe. In this article, the question of whether room should be made for God and religion in the constitution of a 21st century European State will be explored. The constitutional invocation of God usually occurs within the preamble of a constitution. Therefore, the purpose of a constitution’s preamble will be considered in the Introduction. The Introduction will also discuss the meaning behind referencing God in a constitution’s preamble and the history of such references. Lastly, the various functions of invoking God’s name in a constitutional context will be outlined.

Publisher

University of Galway

Rights

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

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Collections

School of Law (Scholarly Articles)