Dead Hand Constitutionalism: The Dangers of Eternity Clauses in the New Democracies

Abstract

The 2009 Honduran constitutional crisis, in which sitting Presi- dent Manuel Zelaya was captured from the Presidential Palace and flown to Costa Rica under the cover of night, illuminated the danger of entrenched and eternity clauses in fledgling democracies. This article discusses the way such clauses have been used in the past, identifying three general categories of histori- cal eternity clauses. These categories include clauses that address the character of the government, the spirit or principles of the constitutional regime and fi- nally the character of the country. The article also discusses potential problems that arise when such clauses are written into Constitutions of transitional demo- cratic regimes.