2 Amendment

An amendment clause fixes how rigid the constitution is. The usual stages are initiative, passage by a special majority, and sometimes ratification. Nepal's constitution permits amendment by a two-thirds majority of the total membership of the federal parliament, with additional requirements for matters touching the provinces. Two limits operate beyond the text: a procedural limit (an amendment must follow the prescribed route) and a substantive limit (the constitution cannot be amended to destroy itself). The doctrine of basic structure supplies the second — a court will ask whether the change removes a feature without which the constitution would no longer be the same constitution.