Around the world, interim (temporary) constitutions are enacted as bridges to peace and democracy, expected to deliver fragile societies from conflict and authoritarian rule. Despite their growing use in recent years, their legal examination has to date largely been relegated to liminal spaces in existing bodies of scholarship, which variously conceive of them as constitutions, peace agreements, hybrid constitution-peace agreements, and procedural options in constitution- and peace-building efforts. Are these four understandings accurate and, if not, what do they miss? This article highlights all (proto-)interim constitutions enacted since 1789—more than 150 of them—as well as the historic events that prompted their enactment. It is argued that interim constitutions possess a combination of features that render them legally distinct from other constitutional instruments, as well as peace agreements. It is further demonstrated that interim constitutions are consistently enacted in the context of exceptional factual and legal circumstances, thereby disrupting ten assumptions in the state of the art regarding their purposes and optional use. It is concluded that understanding the legal distinctiveness and exceptional use of interim constitutions is essential for understanding what they are, why they are enacted, and whether they perform “successfully.”

中文翻译：

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走出阴影：阐明临时宪法的独特性和特殊用途

在世界各地，临时宪法被制定为通向和平与民主的桥梁，有望使脆弱的社会摆脱冲突和独裁统治。尽管近年来它们的使用越来越多，但迄今为止，它们的法律审查在很大程度上被降级到现有学术机构的有限空间，这些学术机构以不同的方式将它们视为宪法、和平协议、混合宪法-和平协议以及宪法和和平协议中的程序选择。建设和平的努力。这四种理解是否准确？如果不准确，它们错过了什么？本文重点介绍了 1789 年以来颁布的所有（原始）临时宪法（其中超过 150 部）以及促使其颁布的历史事件。有人认为，临时宪法具有一系列特征，使其在法律上不同于其他宪法文书以及和平协议。进一步证明，临时宪法始终是在特殊的事实和法律情况下制定的，从而破坏了现有技术中关于其目的和选择性使用的十个假设。结论是，了解临时宪法的法律独特性和例外使用对于理解它们是什么、为什么颁布以及它们是否“成功”执行至关重要。