Comparing the histories of the Constitutions

Out of the Japanese, Russian and Indian, the Japanese Constitution, official known as the
Constitution of Japan, is the oldest, being adopted in 1947, May 3rd, replacing the Meiji
Constitution. The Indian Constitution, official called the Constitution of India, on the other
hand, was adopted in 26th January, 1950, replacing the ‘Government of India Act, 1939’ as
fundamental Governing Document of the Nation, and the Russian Constitution, official
called the Constitution of the Russian Federation, was adopted in early 90s, the date was 25
December, 1993. This Constitution replaced the 1977 Constitution of USSR, also known as
Brezhnev Constitution.
All three Constitutions were created in aftermath of Major events. The Indian Constitution
was being built during the Partition of the Country, The Japanese Constitution was created
in aftermath of the Atomic Bomb strike in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Russian
Constitution drafting immediately began after fall of USSR. Unlike India and Russia, whose
Constitutions were drafted by their respective Constituent Assemblies, Constituent
Assembly for India with Dr B R Ambedkar as the chief Architect and Constitutional
Conference for Russia with S.S. Alekseev, A. Sobchak and S.M. Shakhray as the Chief
Architects, the Japanese Constitution was mainly drafted Allied Forces, led by controversial
American General Douglas MacArthur, popular known as American Caesar.
The Japanese State, in its lifetime, has only had two Constitutions, The Meiji Constitution,
created during the Meiji restoration, and Postwar or the Current Constitution. The Meiji
Constitution was adopted on 29th November, 1890 and surprisingly, it was very much
Democratic with the Emperor being the head of State and the Elected, although only
slightly, Cabinet being the actual head government and civil liberties like Freedom of religion
being guaranteed. The First official ‘Constitution’ of the Russian State was adopted in 1833,
before this point, the Russian State never had a constitution. This Constitution was
introduced by Tsar Nicholas I and according to it, the official Religion of the Russian State
was Russian Orthodox Sect of Christianity and that the Tsar was the Head of State and
Government. That was it! Obviously, a scam. The first real Russian Constitution was the
1906, formed out of the vision of 1905 revolution and the October Manifesto. This was the
first one put limits on Tsar’s Power, established a State Duma (Parliament) and gave civil
rights to Russian subjects. Tsardom in the Russian State ceased to exist after the after the
February Revolution of 1917, replaced by a Provincial Government, which itself ceased to
exist by Communist October revolution of 1917 which saw the creation of the Union of
Sovereign Socialist Republics. The USSR had three constitutions during its lifetime. These
were the Constitution of 1924, which was created on Leninist Ideals, the Constitution of
1936, which was created on Stalinist Ideals and the Constitution of 1977, which was created
on Brezhnevist ideals. India, unlike Russia or Japan, in its history, has never had anything
similar to a constitution. But most people agreed that the Government of India Act, 1935
was the Fundamental Document of Governing India.
 Comparing the Amending process
The Japanese Constitution, unlike the Russian and Indian Constitution, has never been
amended since its creation in 1947. According to Article 96, the Japanese Constitution can
theoretically be amended, in reality, it is extremely difficult and thus, has never been done.
An Amendment must get a 2/3 special majority approval from the houses of the National
Diet. After that, it should be ratified by the People of Japan, which means the amendment
must a simple majority in a Popular Referendum. There have been some attempts to
amended the constitution, especially the Article 9, which official turns Japan into a Pacifist
State. The Russian and the Indian Constitutions have been amending several times. The
Russian Constitution, from its adoptions, has received numerous small, technical details
related amendments and 4 major amendments. First in December of 2008, which increases
the term of President of Russia and State Duma from 4 years to 6 and 5 years respectively, 2
times in 2014, one in February and one in July, which, as a whole, state that the Republic of
Crimea is a part of the Russian Federation, and the last one was in 2020, which has so much
content that it could be considered a mini-constitution, but the most important point of it is
that it dissolves Term Limits for the Position of President. The Russian Constitution has 9
main chapters and Chapter No 9 consist of Articles Dealing with Amending Process. Chapter
9 clearly states while it is preferable if Chapter No 1 (Deals with the Fundamentals of the
Constitutional System), 2 (Deals with Fundamental Rights and Duties of the Russian Citizens)
and 9 are left unchanged, but they were to amended, it requires 3/5 majority approval from
both the houses of Federal Assembly and must be approved by the People of Russia in a
National Referendum. Chapter 3 to 8 requires only a 2/3 majority approval from the Federal
Assembly. The Indian Constitution has, in total 105 amendments, with the most recent one
being adopted on 10th August, 2021. While most of these are more related to technically
details, their more major amendments compared to the Russian ones. One of the biggest
amendments was the 42nd Amendment, known as the Mini Constitution. The Indian
Constitution, unlike the Russian or Japanese, has no province for a referendum. According
to Article 368, there are, the constitution is divided into three categories. First is for those
Articles which don’t have a major impact on the country. For these Articles, the Amendment
needs a Simple majority approval. For the more serious articles, the amendment needs a
2/3 special Majority approval. And for the most Serious Articles, related to the
fundamentals of Governing Structure of the Country, the amendment needs not only a
special majority approval, but also the approval of at least half of the States of the Union.
The Constitution also clear states that the Fundamentals of the Constitution Shall not be
amended.
Comparing the Central Structure of Governance
In India, the Constitution clear lays down a set of Checks and balances. The members of the
Executive are elected by and are a part of the Parliament of the Country, thus making them
answerable to the Parliament. Also, the Parliament has the power of Impeach the Justices of
Supreme and High Courts. It is also the Supreme Law-making body of the Nation and has the
power to Amend the Constitution, of course, if all the requirements are met. The Executive
is the called the most powerful organ of the Government, being the supreme body enforce
the will of the Parliament. The De Jure head of the Executive is the President, who is the De
Jure Supreme representative of the People of India. The Executive is responsible for the day-
to-day administrative and foreign affairs of the Country and it also the one who appoints, on
the advice of a Collegium of Judges, shall appoint the Chief Justice of the Country. The
Judiciary is the Supreme protector of Law! It has the power to declare any Laws passed by
Parliament or Act of Executive as Unconstitutional. The tenure of Judges is protected by
Constitution but if the any of the Justices took part in unconstitutional behavior, in that case
the Parliament has every right to pass a motion to remove the Justice.

In Japan, Emperor is not a part of the Executive. He/She is the ‘symbol of the State and of
the unity of the people’. The emperor’s role is purely ceremonial, and, unlike in most
Constitutional Monarchies, the Emperor is not even the source of the Sovereign power of
the Government. He/She is not even the Commander-In-Chief of the Self-Defense Forces of
Japan. Most of the Powers of Executive are practice directly by the leader of Executive, that
is the Prime Minister, thou some powers are practice in his/her name. The emperor also has
the power to appoint the head of the largest party to be the PM and appoint the Chief
Justice, on the advice of the PM’s Cabinet. The Executive is the Source of its power. Its
members are elected from, and are part of the National Diet, the official Name of the
National Parliament, thus making the executive answerable to Diet. The Executive also deals
with the day to day administrative and foreign affairs of the State. The Diet, on the other
hand, is highest Organ of State’s Power and is the Sole Law-making Organ of the Nation. It
also has the power to set up of Courts to Impeach Judges. The Judiciary of Japan, according
to Article 76, is Independent from both the Parliament and Executive and has the Power of
Judicial Review to keep make sure the laws are not unconstitutional. The Judiciary, while
independent, can be Impeached.
Russia’s Governing System, according to its Constitution, is quite different when compared
with India and Japan. Being Semi Presidential system, compared to Parliamentary system
followed in Japan and India, the Executive of Russia, which consist of President and the
National Cabinet of Ministers, official called the Government of Russia. None of the
members of the Executive have to members of the Federal Assembly, official Name of the
Russian Parliament and Executive, just like the Japanese Executive, is the source of its
power. The Russian President, who is the head of the State and Supreme Commander-In-
Chief of the Army forces, is directly elected the People, and any citizen of Russia can become
be appointed by President as the Prime Minister, who is actually called the Chairman of the
Government of the Russian Federation. The Chairman is the head of Government. The PM is
subordinate to President and reports to him regularly. The State Duma can refuse to accept
the candidate nominate by President, but if it refuses three times consecutively, the Duma
Will be dissolved and fresh elections for the Duma shall take place. The President also has
the power appoints the other Federal Ministers, who also don’t have to members of the
Duma. He not only has the power appoints these Ministers, but also ask them to be
removed. The Same goes for a lot of other top offices in Russian federation. The President
also has a right to introduce bill in the State Duma, even thou he is not a member, and the
power sign in a bill to make it a law. He also can veto any bill passed the Federal Assembly.
In Judicial matter, he can appoint Chief Justice and other Justices to Supreme court, on the
advice and consent of the Federation Council, The Upper House of the Federal Assembly.
Thou for the Position of Chairman of the Constitutional Court, which was created specially
to deal with Constitutional matters, the President can merely recommend candidates to the
Federation Council, which actually appoints Chairman. The President is supposed to get the
Duma’s approval before removing judges, but if the Duma refused three consecutive times,
the Duma will be dissolved On the Matter of Courts, the Courts are, in paper, Independent
and hard to remove. There are, according to the Constitution, are to be the only ones
dealing with Legal matter of the Nation. They are financially secure and cannot be removed
until they themselves break a law, or President demands it. Other than that, there is no
other way to remove them. Also, according the 2020 amendments, Russian judges are
supposed to favor Russian laws over international ones. The Federal Assembly is the Highest
Law-Making Border of the Federation. Its members, like the Parliaments of India and Japan,
are representatives of the People. The Assembly, more specifically the Duma, also approves
or rejects the Budgets created by the Executive. The Assembly also has the power to
introduce No confidence motion against the Government of Russia which, if succeeded, will
force the PM and other Ministers to Resign. The Federal Assembly also technically has the
power to Impeach the President, but the whole process is so complex that the chances of it
happening are really low. Under Boris Era, the Assembly tried to Impeach President Boris 3
times, and all three failed. It has never been tried in Putin’s Era. The President can’t
dissolved the Duma during a time of crisis. One final thing is that all members of Federal
Assembly, all ministers of Government of Russia, all Judges of the Apex Courts, that
Constitutional Court, which deals with Constitutional Matter, and Supreme Court, which
deals with Civil, criminal and financial matter, and the President himself, have Legal
Immunity! The President’s Immunity remains even after his/her tenure is over.