constitutional amendment is a amendment made to a specific text present in the Constitution of a State, changing the basis of the law in a given matter.
For there to be a constitutional amendment, it is necessary to develop a Constitutional Amendment Proposal (PEC) and its approval by at least one third of the total number of parliamentarians, in addition to having to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies, the Federal Senate and the Presidency of the Republic (in the case of Brazil).
The PEC only starts when the project is sent to the Committee on Constitution, Justice and Citizenship, which shall, after the consideration of the PEC, return it to the President of the Legislature so that the process of approval.
The approval of the PEC must be made in two rounds of votes, both in the Chamber of Deputies and also in the Senate.
All the requirements for the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution to be amended are predefined in article 60 of the Constitution itself.
However, it is worth noting that constitutional amendments cannot change the so-called
"stone clauses" of the Constitution, which consist of provisions that cannot be changed for any reason. In Brazil, for example, the right to direct, secret, universal and periodic voting is classified as a permanent clause in the Federal Constitution.Learn more about meaning of the Constitution and ordinary law.