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Constitutional court

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For highest ordinary courts with power of constitutional review, seeSupreme court.
Seats of independent constitutional courts:

Aconstitutional courtis ahigh courtthat deals primarily withconstitutional law.Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in factunconstitutional,i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established rules, rights, and freedoms, among other things.

History[edit]

Before establishment of independent constitutional court[edit]

Further information:Judicial reviewandConstitutional review

Prior to 1919, the United States, Canada andAustraliahad adopted the concept ofjudicial reviewby their courts, following shared principles of their similarcommon law legal systems,which they, in turn, had inherited fromBritishcolonial law.[1]TheParthenopean Republic's constitution of 1799, written byMario Pagano,envisaged an organ of magistrates reviewing constitutional law, theeforato,but lasted only 6 months.[2]The1776 Constitution of Pennsylvaniaand1777 Constitution of Vermontboth establish a "Council of Censors" separate from the other branches of government, with the task of "recommending to the legislature the repealing of such laws as appear to them to have been enacted contrary to the principles of the constitution,"[3][4]an institution somewhat similar to a modern constitutional court.

After establishment of independent constitutional court[edit]

In 1919 theFirst Austrian Republicestablished the first dedicated constitutional court, theConstitutional Court of Austria,which however existed in name only until 10 October 1920, whenthe country's new constitutioncame into effect, upon which the court gained the power to review the laws ofAustria's federal states.[5]The1920 ConstitutionofCzechoslovakia,which came into effect on 2 February 1920, was the first to provide for a dedicated court for judicial review of parliamentary laws, but the court did not convene until November 1921. The organization and competences of both courts were influenced by constitutional theories ofHans Kelsen.[6]Subsequently, this idea of having a separate special constitutional court that only heard cases concerning the constitutionality of the national legislature's acts became known as theAustrian System,and it was subsequently adopted by many other countries e.g.Liechtenstein(1925),Greece(1927),Spain(1931),Germany(1949) etc.

National Constitutional Courts[edit]

See also:List of supreme courts by country

Following list consists countries with separate constitutional courts. Yet some other countries do not have separate constitutional courts, but instead delegate constitutional judicial authority to theirordinary courtsystem, with the final decision-making power resting in thesupremeordinary court.Nonetheless, such courts are sometimes also called "constitutional courts". For example, theSupreme Court of the United Stateshas been called the world's oldest constitutional court[7]because it was one of the earliest courts in the world to invalidate a law as unconstitutional (Marbury v. Madison), even though it is not a separate constitutional court, hearing as it does cases not touching on the Constitution.

Subnational Constitutional Courts[edit]

Germany[edit]

Source:[10]

Constitutional Court of Baden-Württemberg[de](German:Verfassungsgerichthof für das Land Baden-Württemberg;abbreviated:VerfGH BW) is the constiutional court for the GermanLand (state)ofBaden-Württembergand thereby aconstitutional organon the state level. Besides its power ofjudicial review(Normenkontrolle[de]), it has a number of other powers and responsibilities which are assign to it by thestate constitution[de].[11]

Bavarian Constitutional Court[de](German:Bayrischer Verfassungsgerichthof;abbreviated:VerfGH BY) is the state constitutional court for theFree State of Bavaria.It is, along with theLandesregierung(state government) and theLandtag(state parliament), one of the three state constitutional institutions and has the power of judicial review: It may examine the compatibility of state laws with thestate constitution.[12]

Constitutional Court of Berlin(German:Verfassungsgerichthof des Landes Berlin;abbreviated:VerfGH BE) is the constitutional court of thecity-stateofBerlinwhich is simultaneously the capital of theFederal Republic of Germany.It is located in the same building as theKammergericht(Oberlandesgericht)and is authorized by Article 84Constitution of the city-state of Berlin[de].It has the power of judicial review, the power to review electoral complaints and the power to hear cases concerning complaints against referendums and popular initiatives among others.[13]

Constitutional Court of Brandenburg[de](German:Verfassungsgerichthof des Landes Brandenburg;abbreviated:VerfG BB)[14]

State Constitutional Court of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen[de](German:Staatsgerichtshof der Freien Hansestadt Bremen;abbreviated:StGH HB)[15]

Constitutional Court of Hamburg[de](German:Hamburgisches Verfassungsgericht;abbreviated:VerfG HH)[16]

State Constitutional Court of Hesse (StGH HE)

LandConstitutional Court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (VerfG MV)

State Constitutional Court of Lower Saxony (StGH NDS)

Constitutional Court of North Rhine-Westphalia(German:Verfassungsgericht für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen;abbreviated:VerfGH NRWorVGH NRW)

Constitutional Court of Rhineland-Palatinate (VerfGH RP)

Constitutional Court of Saarland (VerfGH SL)

Constitutional Court of the Free State of Saxony (VerfGH SN)

LandConstitutional Court of Saxony-Anhalt (VerfG ST)

LandConstitutional Court of Schleswig-Holstein (VerfG SH)

Thuringian Constitutional Court (VerfGH TH)

Russia[edit]

Before 2020, severalrepublics of Russiahad their own constitutional courts, while in otherfederal subjectslikeoblastsandfederal citiesthey were known as charter courts, as republics are the only federal subjects to have their own constitutions.[17]Constitutional and charter courts were completely independent and were not subordinate courts to theConstitutional Court of Russia.

Constitutional and charter courts used to hear cases relating to conformity with regional constitutions or charters of laws adopted byregional legislaturesandgovernors'decrees, and in this category of cases constitutional and charter courts were courts of single instance.

Constitutional and charter courts of the federal subjects were disestablished by the2020 amendments to the Constitution of Russia.[18][19][20][21]

As for 2020, constitutional courts remained in force in the 12 (out of 22) following republics:

In the republics ofBuryatiaandTuva,the constitutional courts were abolished by the republican constitutional laws in 2018 and 2019, respectively.[26]In the republics ofBashkortostan,Tatarstan,andSakha,the disestablished constitutional courts were transformed into constitutional councils, without any judicial powers.[27][28][29]

Until 2020, charter courts existed in following federal subjects:

The charter court ofChelyabinsk Oblastwas disestablished in 2014.

See also[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toConstitutional courts.

Notes and references[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Austrian Constitutional Court (German:Verfassungsgerichtshof',VfGH) is the oldest constitutional court in the world established in 1921, resided in the building of the formerBöhmische Hofkanzlei(English:Bohemian Court Chancellery), Judenplatz 11 inViennauntil 2012.
  2. ^The picture shows hall for plenary sessions of theConstitutional Court of the Czech Republicin the building of the formerMoravianParliament inBrno.History of the Court follows up to 1920

References[edit]

  1. ^Dudley Odell McGovney, "The British Origin of Judicial Review of Legislation",University of Pennsylvania Law Reviewvol. 93, no. 1, 1–49.
  2. ^Mauro Lenci,The battle over "democracy".InOddens, Joris; Rutjes, Mart; Jacobs, Erik (2015-05-01).The political culture of the sister republics, 1794-1806: France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy.Amsterdam University Press.ISBN9789048522415.
  3. ^https://sos.vermont.gov/vsara/learn/constitution/1777-constitution/[bare URL]
  4. ^"Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 | PHMC > Our Documentary Heritage".
  5. ^Constitutional Court of Austria - HistoryArchived2012-08-26 at theWayback Machine
  6. ^Romeu F.R., The Establishment of Constitutional Courts: A Study of 128 Democratic Constitutions, „Review of Law & Economics”, 2 (1), Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2006, p. 104.
  7. ^Liptak, Adam (September 17, 2008)."U.S. Court Is Now Guiding Fewer Nations".The New York Times.RetrievedJune 7,2018.
  8. ^"Tribunal Constitucional"(in Portuguese).Retrieved2023-02-27.
  9. ^https://www.constcourt.tj/.{{cite web}}:Missing or empty|title=(help)
  10. ^"Bundesverfassungsgericht - International perspectives - Links to other courts".www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de.Retrieved2023-10-18.
  11. ^"Zuständigkeiten".Baden-Württemberg.de(in German).Retrieved2023-10-18.
  12. ^"Bayerischer Verfassungsgerichtshof - Bayerisches Staatsministerium der Justiz".www.bayern.verfassungsgerichtshof.de.Retrieved2023-10-24.
  13. ^"Verfassungsgerichtshof des Landes Berlin".www.berlin.de(in German). 2023-02-01.Retrieved2023-10-24.
  14. ^"Start | Verfassungsgericht des Landes Brandenburg".verfassungsgericht.brandenburg.de.Retrieved2023-10-24.
  15. ^"Startseite - Staatsgerichtshof der Freien Hansestadt Bremen".www.staatsgerichtshof.bremen.de.Retrieved2023-10-24.
  16. ^"Hamburgisches Verfassungsgericht".www.hamburgisches-verfassungsgericht.de.Retrieved2023-10-24.
  17. ^Viktor Ovsyukov (25 April 2018)."Зачем Петербургу нужен Уставный суд, рассматривающий два дела в год".Busy Petersburg(in Russian). Archived fromthe originalon 2021-05-12.Retrieved2020-03-12.
  18. ^"Путин подписал закон об увольнении судей за отказ от гражданства РФ"(in Russian). 8 December 2020. Archived fromthe originalon 2020-12-08.Retrieved2020-12-09.
  19. ^"Уставный суд Петербурга ликвидируют 1 июля"(in Russian). Archived fromthe originalon 2021-09-09.Retrieved2021-09-09.
  20. ^"Уставный суд Свердловской области прекратил работу"(in Russian). July 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-07-26.Retrieved2022-07-26.
  21. ^Kirill Antonov (2021-12-15)."И суда нет. Парламент Татарстана готовится к ликвидации Конституционного суда"(in Russian).Kommersant.Archived fromthe originalon 2021-12-17.Retrieved2021-12-16.
  22. ^Rustam B. Mamaev. The Establishment of Constitutional Justice Bodies in the Republics of the North Caucasus.
  23. ^Constitutional Law of the Republic of Ingushetia from 28 December 2001 No. 10-RKZ "On the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Ingushetia"Archived2018-10-19 at theWayback Machine- Constitutional Court of the Republic of Ingushetia. Official website
  24. ^Law of the Republic of Karelia from 7 July 2004 No. 790-ZRK "On the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Carelia"
  25. ^Constitutional Law of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) from 15 June 2002 No. 16-z N 363-II "On the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)"
  26. ^"КС РФ разрешил окончательно упразднить Конституционный суд Бурятии"(in Russian). 24 March 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-03-03.Retrieved2017-03-03.
  27. ^Kirill Antonov (2022-10-20)."Суд удаляется из совещания. Госсовет Татарстана внес законопроект об упразднении конституционного суда республики"(in Russian).Kommersant.Archived fromthe originalon 2022-10-20.Retrieved2022-10-20.
  28. ^"Госсовет Татарстана проголосовал за ликвидацию Конституционного суда республики"(in Russian). Idel.Realities. 2022-10-20. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-10-20.Retrieved2022-10-20.
  29. ^"Госсовет РТ ликвидировал Конституционный суд республики — вместо него будет совет"(in Russian). Business Online. 2022-10-20. Archived fromthe originalon 2022-10-20.Retrieved2022-10-20.
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