Decolonization is commonly defined as the historical process by which European empires collapsed and former colonies became new independent states during classical and late modernity. In the former colonies, this process typically culminated in the enactment of a new constitution; in the metropolisies, its repercussions were also felt in constitutional law. Decolonization and constitution are thus categories and practices that intersect. This entry thus presents legal patterns and structural themes that cut across the processes of decolonization and illustrate them with examples from a few selected constitutional orders. Part II offers a brief historical analysis of the four waves of decolonization and a typology a decolonial processes. Part III reflects on three issues that structure decolonization processes from a legal and political perspective: history, state and nation. Finally, Part IV reflects on these three constitutive issues, time, space and subject, with regard to European former empires.