UNITED NATIONS ASSISTANCE TO CONSTITUTION-MAKING PROCESSES: PRE-CONSTITUENT AND CONSTITUENT PHASES

Resumo

The empirical evidences of constitution-making conducted by the United Nations (UN) represent a significant challenge to contemporary constitutional law and to the deeper tradition of modern constitutionalism.  By incorporating the ideals that sustain democracy to the UN there was a change of perspective as to its role: the political-juridical structuring of a nation in turmoil. This paper discusses the pre-constituent and constituent stages of the constitutional assistance processes developed by the UN in states that have democratization needs. The focus of the discussion relates to the possibilities and limitations of such processes, led by the UN as an international institutional authority with the aim of being responsible for the appeasement of large areas of turmoil. Whether in the pre-constituent phase, or in the constituent phase, we are addressing political-legal processes in which a global international organization interferes in the adoption or reform of a constitution by a national state. The fact reveals, firstly, the political, economic and social fragility of certain parts of the world - subject to fratricidal disputes that include the violence and the subjection of considerable parcels of their populations. Secondly, the fact reveals the difficulty that the global international system encounters in positioning itself adequately in the face of the problem without the marks of colonization. The problematization, from the subject of study, adopts a dogmatic profile and is promoted through an interdisciplinary approach, guided by the critical-dialectical model. It was undertaken, during the research of qualitative data collected from the real events, with the objective of explaining, exploring and describing current phenomena inserted in the analyzed context. Thus, the research is based in the following elements: doctrine and official documentation issued by the United Nations.