Brazil in the Context of the Debate Over Unamendability in Latin America

Abstract

Unamendability appears to be a contradictory concept in Latin America. Though the rate among its countries varies strongly and the pace of constitutional replacements has waned in the last years, Latin America has long been portrayed as the region where changing the constitution is a common pattern. This paper will explore how this debate has taken place in Brazil, a major player in Latin America whose constitutionalism has been rather underexplored, though unamendability has long been regarded as a logical concept in its constitutionalism. Brazil is an interesting example since it has inscribed far-reaching unamendable provisions in its Constitution and has struck down constitutional amendments through judicial review in some relevant cases. Moreover, the fact that it had set out unamendable clauses in the constitutional text has not prevented its Supreme Court and the constitutional literature from going further in interpreting the scope of such clauses, expanding thereby the very concept of unamendability.