О ПРАВНОЈ ПРИРОДИ ПРЕАМБУЛЕ УСТАВА
THE LEGAL NATURE OF THE PREAMBLE TO THE CONSTITUTION

Summary/Abstract: Although an integral part of most constitutions, the preamble has been on the margin of interest of legal studies for a long time. The key reason may rest on the fact that the legal nature of the preamble has not been fully determined and clarified yet. The process of determining and defining its legal nature is a delicate task, particularly considering that it is a phenomenon which lies at the junction between politics and law. Given the fact that most constitutions do not determine the legal effect of the preamble, the legal theory has engendered three distinct perspectives on the legal nature of the preamble. According to the first point of view, a preamble is a ceremonial political declaration and an introductory statement into the normative part of the constitution, for which reason it lacks the operative legal value. The second point of view attributes limited legal significance to the preamble, but only as an auxiliary tool for interpreting unclear constitutional norms, as it classifies them into a relevant socio-political context. According to the third point of view, the preamble is an integral part of the constitution and its legal effect is equal to the normative part of the constitution. The author suggests that any principal viewpoints and extremes should be avoided in drawing conclusions in this field because the legal nature of the preamble first and foremost depends on its content.

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