Abstract: After several changes in theory and practice, it has become a norm for courts to cite the constitution in judicial documents. However, due to the lack of a set of clear and unified norms, courts at all levels follow their own criteria when citing the constitution. This is bound to be detrimental to safeguarding the dignity of the constitution and its implementation. Therefore, it necessary for the Supreme People's Court to issue the rules for constitution citing by courts, to clarify the specific text of the constitution for citing, to stipulate occasions for constitution citing, and to unify the accurate and complete format of constitution citing. Through accountability mechanisms, supervision mechanisms, and guiding case mechanisms, etc., courts are guaranteed to properly cite the constitution. And allowing the courts to interpret the constitution at the level of legal methods when citing, is an important part of constitution citing system and the expected content of the rules for constitution citing by courts.

Key words: judgment documents, constitution citing, reasoning of judgment, occasions for citing, format of citing