形式主义宪法观的兴起

The Emergence of the Formalistic Concept of the Constitution

在我国现行宪制框架下,形式主义宪法观认为,《宪法》之外绝无宪法,以“宪法”作为其他成文法的修饰词,不利于维护《宪法》的根本法或最高法地位。从世界各国宪法例来看,宪法的“名”与“实”并非完全严格对应,名义宪法在其文本之内不能穷尽全部实质宪法,而承载实质宪法的法律文本也可能不以“宪法”命名。新中国历史上也曾有过“非单一宪法文本”时期;之后,随着1954年《宪法》的颁布实施,逐渐形成了将“宪法”等同于“《宪法》”的观念;1982年修宪以来,《宪法》的纲领性渐弱、法律性渐强,进一步抬升了单一宪法文本的特殊性,并结合立宪主义学说的本土化,在我国更加排斥“实质宪法”的概念。本文认为,应该坚持从形式与实质两个层面认识宪法,既不可过于对立,也不能陷于混同。

Under the existing constitutional framework,there are no constitutional laws other than the Constitution.And if other written laws are named“Constitution”,it could affect the status of the Constitution in accordance with the formalistic concept of the Constitution.From the constitutions around the world,it can be seen that the law titled“Constitution”does not always correspond with the constitutional law in substance:the former sometimes could not cover the latter and the latter may not be named“Constitution”.Multiple constitutional texts co-existed after the founding of New China.The concept that“constitutional law”in China is equal to the Constitution had been formed since the promulgation of the 1954 Constitution.Since the promulgation of the 1982 Amendment,the programmatic role of the Constitution had been less important,while the legal nature of it had been more significant.These trends let the Constitution become more special and made the concept of“substantive constitution”more unacceptable in China,which combines with the localization of the doctrine of constitutionalism.The constitution shall be understood from two aspects,namely,the form of constitution and the essence of constitution.These two aspects are different while they are not opposites.