Constitute Lets You Search And Compare The World's Constitutions

Given the number of commenters who inaccurately claim "freedom of speech" as a legal right in Australia, I sometimes fear that knowledge of the basics of the US Constitution and its amendments is stronger than of our own. You can remedy your ignorance about those issues with Constitute, a new Google-backed tool that lets you search and compare constitutions from around the world.

The site lets you browse full constitutions (160 so far) in HTML and PDF form. You can also see the relevant excerpts around particular themes (such as freedom of speech or the role of religion), and search to find relevant excerpts. It turns out that just four countries identify a right to bear arms (Guatemala, Iran, Mexico and the United States) in their constitutions, for instance. Interesting stuff.

Constitute [via Official Google Blog]


    Of course, Australians do have a (limited, implied) freedom of political speech.

    It is annoying when people claim we have a Constitutional right to free speech, but to me it's more annoying when smug know-it-alls shoot them down without knowing all the facts (not saying you're doing this, but it happens). Yes, we don't have a guaranteed, express guarantee freedom of speech. However, we do have an implied freedom of political communication which is drawn from our system of representative and responsible government. In a way it's better than outright free speech because it allows the government a little more flexibility on things like pornography and hate speech.

    Also, the site is a reminder that having Constitutionally-protected rights doesn't really mean squat. China has Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech, apparently. We only have rights because our leaders (Parliament, the courts etc.) respect their importance, and the rule of law.

    Fail, doesn't even have New Zealand.

      I had the impression New Zealand didn't have a single, unified constitution, which would make including it difficult.

        Huh, that's odd... Well you learn something new everyday I guess! :p

        The UK is the same, which is why they're not included either.

        AFAIK Australia is one of the few countries to have a Constitution that wasn't born out of either a civil war or a war of independence.

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