AdNU Congress to amend constitution, passes act creating ConCom

Seeking to revise the 2005 amended constitution of the AdNU-SSG, an act establishing a Constitutional Committee (ConCom) within the legislative body hurdled the SCon.

Based on the memorandum posted on the Facebook page of the university’s Student Congress on 15 January 2023, the “Constitutional Committee of Constituent Assembly (ConCom) Act” has been passed to oversee Cha-cha of the university’s highest governing body.

The Congress explained in the declaration that the reason behind the push to revise the constitution is due to “antiquated provisions that have become sources of discrepancies, reconciliation, and confusion when determining limitations and initiatives necessary to adapt rules, projects and resolutions to meet the needs of the student body.”

“The discrepancies arise from a failure to signify the Doctrine of Harmonious Construction, which is a standard approach for interpreting rules,” the memorandum read.

The Doctrine of Harmonious Construction is a rule of statute interpretation that suggests that if there are conflicting parts in the statute, they should be interpreted in a way that brings harmony among the statutory rules. Hence, a reconciliation of these parts should be made to prevent dissonance among them. 

Furthermore, the SCon said that the current constitution had been scrutinized and attempted to be amended by past administrations but time constraints hindered its fruition. 

The legislative body emphasized that the move to reconcile provisions is for the litany of every student’s rights and welfare, and the protection and advancement of social changes and academic progress in the university.

Once the full draft of the newly proposed Constitution has garnered a two-thirds majority vote of the Congress through a secret ballot, a plebiscite within the whole student body will be held for its ratification.