When something is unconstitutional it is illegal by being a direct violation of a nation's constitution.
A constitutional violation is thus somewhat different than the breaking of a normal law, both in terms of seriousness and punishment. Laws can be declared unconstitutional, though this causes no punishment for those who passed the laws. In the United States, the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of whether or not a law is constitutional.
Some examples of unconstitutional actions can be:
- A politician who abuses the powers of his constitutionally-established office
- An employer who denies his employees the basic human rights demanded by the constitution
- A legislature that tries to pass a law that would contradict the constitution, without first going through the proper constitutional amendment process.
