Constitutional principle

As constitutional principles are called generally accepted rules in a state that in the Constitution are anchored or can be derived from the contents of the Constitution. The constitutional principles, which are sometimes called state goals, express fundamental defensive principles that shape the constitution as a whole. They can be found in the German constitution in Articles 1, 20 and 20a of the  Basic Law . Article 79 III  GG  (“eternity clause”) protects Article 1  GG  and Article 20  GG  from any change.

If the moral concepts of a society change in the course of time , new constitutional principles may be required. In Germany, for example, this happened most recently when animal protection was included in the Basic Law (Art. 20a).