Supreme law in the context of "Constitution of South Africa"

The Constitution of Japan is the supreme law of Japan. Written primarily by American civilian officials during the occupation of Japan after World War II, it was adopted on 3 November 1946 and came into effect on 3 May 1947, succeeding the Meiji Constitution of 1889. The constitution consists of a preamble and 103 articles grouped into 11 chapters. It is based on the principles of popular sovereignty, with the Emperor of Japan as the symbol of the state; pacifism and the renunciation of war; and individual rights.

Upon the surrender of Japan at the end of the war in 1945, Japan was occupied and U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, directed Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara to draft a new constitution. Shidehara created a committee of Japanese scholars for the task, but MacArthur reversed course in February 1946 and presented a draft created under his own supervision, which was reviewed and modified by the scholars before its adoption. Also known as the "MacArthur Constitution", "Post-war Constitution" (戦後憲法, Sengo-Kenpō), or "Peace Constitution" (平和憲法, Heiwa-Kenpō), it is relatively short at 5,000 signs, less than a quarter the length of the average national constitution if one compares it with constitutions written in alphabetical word-based languages.

The Constitution of Bolivia, officially known as the Political Constitution of the State (Spanish: Constitución Política del Estado) is the supreme law of Bolivia. It was adopted on 7 February 2009 and superseded the Constitution of 1967. It is the seventeenth constitution in the country's history; previous constitutions were enacted in 1826, 1831, 1834, 1839, 1843, 1851, 1861, 1868, 1871, 1878, 1880, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1961, and 1967.

The Constitution was promulgated by President Evo Morales, after being approved in a referendum with 90.24% participation. The referendum was held on 25 January 2009, with the constitution being approved by 61.43% of voters.

The Constitution of the Republic of Poland (Polish: Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej or Konstytucja RP for short) is the supreme law of the Republic of Poland, which is also commonly called the Third Polish Republic (Polish: III Rzeczpospolita or III RP for short) in contrast with the preceding systems.

The current constitution was ratified on 2 April 1997. The Constitution is also commonly referred to as the 1997 Constitution. It replaced the Small Constitution of 1992, a revision of the 1952 Constitution of the Polish People's Republic. It was adopted by the National Assembly of Poland on 2 April 1997, approved by a national referendum on 25 May 1997, promulgated by the President of the Republic on 16 July 1997, and came into force on 17 October 1997.

The Constitution of the Polish People's Republic (also known as the July Constitution or the Constitution of 1952) was a communist state constitution that acted as the supreme law. It passed in communist-ruled Poland on 22 July 1952. It superseded the post-World War II provisional Small Constitution of 1947, which in turn replaced the pre-war April Constitution of 1935.

The 1952 constitution introduced a new name for the Polish state, the Polish People's Republic (Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL), replacing the previously used Republic of Poland (Rzeczpospolita Polska). The communist-led Sejm (legislature) was declared to be the highest state authority. The real source of supreme state power, the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR), was not regulated by the constitution; it was ruled by its own statute. The constitution legalized many practices that had been introduced in Poland, in the wake of the Soviet Red Army and the Polish People's Army defeat of Nazi Germany in 1944–1945, by Polish-communist governmental bodies, including the Polish Committee of National Liberation (PKWN) and its successors.

The Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Hiến pháp nước Cộng hòa xã hội chủ nghĩa Việt Nam) is the communist state constitution of Vietnam. It functions as the fundamental and supreme law of the state. The current constitution, commonly known as the 2013 Constitution (Hiến pháp năm 2013), was adopted on November 28, 2013, by the 13th National Assembly of Vietnam and took effect on January 1, 2014, being the third constitution adopted by the Vietnamese state since the political reunification of the country in 1976. It was amended in 2025.

The Constitution of Portugal, officially the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic (Constituição da República Portuguesa), is the supreme law of Portugal. It superseded the Estado Novo's 1933 Constituion on April 25, 1976 after the Carnation Revolution.

The Consitution was preceded by a number of constitutions including the first one created in 1822 (following the Liberal Revolution of 1820), 1826 (drawn up by King Dom Pedro IV), 1838 (after the Liberal Wars), 1911 (following the 5 October 1910 revolution), and 1933 (after the 28 May 1926 coup d'état).

The Constitution of Tunisia (Arabic: دستور الجمهورية التونسية Dostūr ej-Jumhūrīye et-Tūnsīye) is the supreme law of the Tunisian Republic. The constitution is the framework for the organization of the Tunisian government and for the relationship of the federal government with the governorates, citizens, and all people within Tunisia. Tunisia's first modern constitution was the Fundamental Pact of 1857. This was followed by the Constitution of 1861, which was not replaced until after the departure of French administrators in 1956, by the constitution of 1959. It was adopted on 1 June 1959 and amended in 1999 and 2002, after the Tunisian constitutional referendum of 2002.

Following the revolution and months of protests, a Constituent Assembly was elected to draft a new constitution, the Tunisian Constitution of 2014 which was adopted on 26 January 2014.