Gebeye on Postcolonial Constitutionalism

28 May 2025

On 21 May, GCDC member Dr Berihun Gebeye presented his work on ‘The Normative and Institutional Alchemy of Postcolonial Constitutionalism’ at the Bonavero Institute of Human Rights. In his presentation, he introduced the idea of postcolonial constitutionalism as a third model for constitutional governance – an alternative to the two hitherto dominant paradigms of legal and political constitutionalism.

Dr Gebeye argued that in addition to fulfilling traditional constitutional functions such as structuring institutions, establishing decision-making processes, and building national identity, postcolonial constitutions also take on a new transformative function, serving as a legal roadmap to freedom. Accordingly, postcolonial constitutionalism is committed to values and assigns duties to different institutions, including not only courts but also political branches like parliament and the executive, to help achieve its transformative constitutional vision. In this way, postcolonial constitutionalism sets out an institutional framework that is competitive but also collaborative. This departs from political constitutionalism, which gives primacy to political branches, and legal constitutionalism, which emphasises the role of courts.

Ultimately, Dr Gebeye suggested, postcolonial constitutionalism, as a third model of constitutional governance, better captures the phenomenological reality of the postcolonial constitution and offers richer normative resources to realise its promises.