Revolutionary breach of legal continuity is a concept in English constitutional law, which rationalises the historic English behavior when one King (or regime) was deposed and a de facto ruler was recognised as the new de jure monarch (or republican authority).
A technical breach of continuity might happen when the former constitutional arrangement is so inefficient that there is not even a practical legal way to amend it.
[citation needed] Similar steps were taken so the Indian people became the source of legitimacy for the republican constitution of India.
The republican constitution replaced the one authorised by the United Kingdom at the time of independence but did not comply with its provisions for amendments.
The term has also been applied to regime change following a military coup in Commonwealth of Nations members such as Pakistan and Nigeria.