Law professor creates global constitution finder Web site

BY MICHELLE HERSHMAN, L'07

A University law professor has created an online database of national charters, amendments and other related documents. John Paul Jones launched Constitution Finder (confinder.richmond.edu/) in 2006, and the Web site has become a valuable reference tool for both law students and government officials worldwide.

Constitution Finder contains links to 719 constitutions. A minimum of one constitutional text in at least one language is provided for each of the 201 countries in the database. For some countries, more than one constitution is provided, and translation into other languages is available. The number of constitutions in the database changes frequently as national documents are constantly revised and amended.

“Following the displacement of communism and socialism in various states, there has been a season of constitution-making,” said Jones, who serves foreign governments as a constitutional advisor. “I foresaw a time when lawmakers and students would want to see for themselves the words of the primary sources.”

The Web site educates users about the significance and meaning of various government materials, shedding light on how they were constructed and providing insight into which issues the drafters chose to tackle—or leave unanswered.

Users range from schoolchildren tackling homework assignments to professional constitution writers drafting amendments and national documents. The site requests that users notify Jones about any errors, updates or broken links.

“Occasionally, feedback is critical,” said Jones. “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Jones plans to expand Constitution Finder by adding additional translations and posting superseded constitutions with the help of law students.

The Web site is offered by the law school as a free service to the public.