University of Richmond Professor Establishes Worldwide Constitution Finder
December 19, 2005
By Michelle Hershman
At a time when newly democratic governments around the world are writing their constitutions, a University of Richmond law professor is providing the reference materials they need.
John Paul Jones—a descendant of the Revolutionary War naval officer—maintains an online database containing national charters, amendments and other related documents. Constitution Finder (confinder.richmond.edu/) is offered as a public service without charge by the university’s law school.
“Following the displacement of communism and socialism in various states, there has been a season of constitution-making,” says Jones, who serves other countries as a constitutional advisor. “I foresaw a time when lawmakers and students would want to see for themselves the words of the primary sources.”
Constitution Finder contains links to the constitutions of 469 countries. At least one constitutional text in at least one language is presented for each of the 204 countries in the database. For some countries, more than one constitution is available, and translation into other languages is available. The number of constitutions presented changes frequently as national governments come and go.
Constitution Finder educates users about what each constitution actually says, how it was constructed and which issues the drafters chose to tackle—or leave unanswered.
Users range from schoolchildren doing homework to professional constitution writers drafting amendments and new national frameworks. The site asks users to notify Jones about any errors, updates and broken links.
“Occasionally, feedback is critical,” Jones explains. “When it allows my team to correct an innocent error, it is much appreciated.”
Jones plans to expand Constitution Finder by adding additional translations and posting superseded constitutions.