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It's above all a legal act, but an act that needs to be more then just a legal act.

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A constitution is a contract, a sort of written charter that summarizes all the social aspirations 

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and which sets up a society's organizational mechanisms. It is also a contract of adhesion. 

00:25.26 --> 00:31.86 That being said, I do not think that a country's constitutional reality 

00:31.86 --> 00:35.24 can be limited to a constitutional document.

00:35.69 --> 00:41.32 I think that the constitutional reality of a country rests on two pillars:

00:41.32 --> 00:44.79 on the one hand the constitution itself

00:44.82 --> 00:47.90 and on the other the constitutional practice. 

00:47.90 --> 00:51.15 A constitution must, first and foremost, be a social contract 

00:51.15 --> 00:55.49 that naturally takes the form of a legal document

00:55.49 --> 01:01.01 which will set the overall direction, the general philosophy of the state; 

01:01.01 --> 01:06.41 but also the institutions that will insure that the state functions. 

01:06.56 --> 01:10.81 When I hear the word « Constitution », I indeed think if a legal document, 

01:10.81 --> 01:16.17 but one that is primarily a programmatic statement of intent.

01:16.72 --> 01:19.61 Well we can associate it to the image of a social contract, 

01:19.73 --> 01:28.77 it is indeed a way to define together a certain number of rules and to collectively think the nation, 

01:28.77 --> 01:31.55  the way the nation sees and speaks of itself. 

01:32.00 --> 01:39.57 It is also a text that must crystallize the identity of a society

01:39.57 --> 01:44.60 in all its diversity, in all of its specificities.

01:44.60 --> 01:49.24 What do we want to do? Where do we want to go? What are our common values?

01:49.24 --> 01:53.37 The reflection of social bonds within a society, 

01:53.37 --> 01:57.17 but also a symbol of openness to the world of said society, 

01:57.17 --> 02:02.51 which obviously is connected to the world and must therefore reflect this openness,

02:02.51 --> 02:11.88 as well as what it incorporates from the world, from the other societies.

02:11.88 --> 02:15.92 When you want to understand a country, the constitution is the starting point.

02:15.92 --> 02:18.52 When someone arrives in Chad, when he arrives at the airport

02:18.52 --> 02:21.80 he first question he may ask himself is "what is this country?" 

02:21.80 --> 02:26.87 The answer to "what is this country?" is the question "what makes sense in this country?". 

02:26.87 --> 02:29.25 Everything that makes sense should be found in the constitution.  

02:29.25 --> 02:33.41 The constitution is a bit like one cannot enter a country by the window

02:33.41 --> 02:35.16 as they often say if you do so you're a thief. 

02:35.16 --> 02:39.83 However, all the difficulty may reside in thinking the constitution

02:39.83 --> 02:44.14 as both a reflection of a society at a given time 

02:44.44 --> 02:49.20 or, perhaps, also as an ideal society to be built.