However, if a constitution provides for a mechanism of its own abolition or replacement, like the German Basic Law does in Article 146, this by necessity provides a "back door" for getting rid of the "eternity clause", too.
"[6] This clause failed to block the 2019 amendments that replaced the hard two-term limit for presidents with a consecutive one, and the modification of the term's duration from four to six years.
[5] There are several examples of entrenched clauses that ultimately failed in their objectives, since their protections were undermined in unintended ways.
For instance, the South Africa Act, the initial constitution of the Union of South Africa, contained entrenchment clauses protecting voting rights in the Cape Province, including those of some Coloureds, that required two-thirds of a joint session of parliament to be repealed.
The first clause in Section 9, which prevented Congress from passing any law that would restrict the importation of slaves prior to 1808, and the fourth clause in that same section, a declaration that direct taxes must be apportioned according to the state populations, were explicitly shielded from constitutional amendment prior to 1808.
[13] However, the text of the clause would indicate that the size of the Senate could be changed by an ordinary amendment if each state continued to have equal representation.
The Crittenden Compromise and Corwin Amendment, both proposed in the months leading up to the Civil War but never passed, would have enshrined slavery in the Constitution and prevented Congress from interfering with it.
As Australian Parliaments have inherited the British principle of parliamentary sovereignty, they may not entrench themselves by a regular act.
[15] The Supreme Court has developed the basic structure doctrine which holds that certain features of the constitution are fundamental in nature and cannot be modified through parliamentary amendment.
Another example of entrenchment would be the entrenching of portions of the Malaysian Constitution related to the Malaysian social contract, which specifies that citizenship be granted to the substantial Chinese and Indian immigrant populations in return for the recognition of a special position for the indigenous Malay majority.
[18][19] In Sri Lanka, the Constitution includes entrenched provisions that require both a two-thirds majority in Parliament and a nationwide referendum for amendment.
The disputed Act was judged to be an individual decision in violation of then-effective constitutional procedure regulating early elections.
[21] The fundamental principles, (i.e., "the basic principles" of Articles 1 and 20), are as follows: The original purpose of this eternity clause was to ensure that the establishment of any dictatorship in Germany would be clearly illegal; in legal practice the clause was used by plaintiffs at the Federal Constitutional Court challenging constitutional amendments that affected Articles 1, 10, 19, 101, and 103 regarding restrictions of legal recourse.
The checks to protect this were removed by, for example, the Irish taking control of advice to the Governor-General, and when the Senate proved obstructive, its abolition.
In debate surround 2018 relaxation of abortion laws there were proposals to entrench certain aspects of the legislation, which was deemed unconstitutional.
[28] The doctrine of parliamentary supremacy holds that Parliament may pass any law it wishes, with the exception that it cannot bind its successors (or be limited by its predecessors).
Therefore, the constitution is unentrenched as previous legislation can be amended by the passing of statute, requiring a simple majority vote in the House of Commons.
Notions of entrenchment have emerged in consideration of a number of constitutional statutes, including the Parliament Acts 1911 and 1949.
)[29] Andrew Blick, Senior Lecturer in Politics at King's College London, argues that the use of a supermajority requirement for the House of Commons in the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 represents a move towards entrenched clauses in the UK Constitution.
This idea has more recently been extended in the UK through the invention of the community interest company (CIC), which incorporates an asset lock.