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The Constitutional Court of Bavaria is the state constitutional court of the Free State of Bavaria and is one of the three constitutional bodies alongside the state parliament and the state government.
The Constitutional Court was established in its current form by the Constitution of the Free State of Bavaria of 2 December 1946 and formally by law of 22 July 1947 (GVBl p. 147) retroactively to 1 July 1947. [1] Its predecessor was the State Court of Bavaria, which was founded on March 30, 1850. The Bavarian Constitutional Court is now housed in the New Justice Building on Prielmayerstrasse in Munich, which also houses the civil senates of the Munich Higher Regional Court.
From 1992 to 2001, a woman headed the court for the first time: Hildegund Holzheid, President of the Higher Regional Court of Munich.
The powers and duties of the Bavarian Constitutional Court are regulated in Section 5 of the First Main Part of the Bavarian Constitution.
The Constitutional Court is the highest court for constitutional issues and decides on
In addition, the popular lawsuit provides every citizen in Bavaria with the possibility of bringing an action against state laws, legislation or regulations before the Constitutional Court, even without being affected.
The Bavarian Constitutional Court consists of the president, 22 professional judges, 15 other members and their representatives. The president must be elected from the presidents of the Bavarian Higher Regional Courts; since 1959, the choice has always fallen on the president of the Higher Regional Court in Munich. Since 2021, Hans-Joachim Heßler has therefore served as President of the Bavarian Constitutional Court. In terms of protocol, the president of the Constitutional Court holds the third highest rank in the Free State, after the prime minister and the president of the State Parliament.
Both the president and the 38 honorary judges at the Constitutional Court are appointed by the state parliament with a simple majority. The Constitutional Court was therefore said to have a certain affinity with the Bavarian majority party, the CSU. However, a referendum to change the rules for electing judges failed in 2000.
The procedural legal basis for proceedings before the Bavarian Constitutional Court are the provisions of the Law on the Bavarian Constitutional Court. In this connection, Article 9 of the Bavarian Constitutional Court Act refers to the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding exclusion from the office of judge. Of particular practical relevance are the proceedings concerning constitutional complaints and the proceedings concerning interim injunctions pursuant to Article 26 of the Bavarian Constitutional Court Act.
The procedure for the constitutional complaint before the Bavarian Constitutional Court is essentially the same as the procedure before the Federal Constitutional Court and differs only in the following four points:
The proceedings of the Constitutional Court are generally free of charge. However, if a constitutional complaint or popular action is inadmissible or manifestly unfounded, the court can impose a fee of up to 1,500 euros on the complainant or applicant, which can also be requested in advance.
Interim orders are governed by Article 26 of the Bavarian Constitutional Court Act. The procedure corresponds to that of the Federal Constitutional Court Act. An example of a rejection of an interim order in a popular action procedure is the decision of 7 March 2019 concerning the Police Tasks Act of Bavaria..
Judgments of the Bavarian Constitutional Court are not issued "in the name of the people", but according to Article 25 paragraph 1 BayVfGHG "in the name of the Free State of Bavaria".
Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Union, it is tasked with interpreting EU law and ensuring its uniform application across all EU member states under Article 263 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state, judge, royal figure, or other relevant authorities, according to certain procedures. These procedures are usually defined by the constitution, Legislative laws, or customary laws of a government.
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The Federal Court of Justice is the highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction in Germany. Its primary responsibility is the final appellate review of decisions by lower courts for errors of law. While, legally, a decision by the Federal Court of Justice is only binding with respect to the individual case in which it enters, de facto the court's interpretation of the law is followed by lower courts with almost no exception. Decisions handed down by the Federal Court of Justice can only be vacated by the Federal Constitutional Court for violating a provision of the German constitution, the Basic Law.
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The Constitutional Court of Slovenia is a special court established by the Slovenian Constitution. Since its inception, the Court has been located in the city of Ljubljana. It is the highest court in the country for reviewing the constitutionality and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, otherwise the highest court in the country is the Supreme Court of the Republic of Slovenia. The constitutional court is not part of any branch of government and is an independent state body.
The Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia is a codified constitution outlining North Macedonia's system of government and basic human rights. It was adopted in the Parliament of the then-Republic of Macedonia on 17 November 1991.
The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic is the supreme constitutional court in the Czech Republic and the de facto highest and most powerful court in the land.
The judiciary of Austria is the system of courts, prosecution and correction of the Republic of Austria as well as the branch of government responsible for upholding the rule of law and administering justice. The judiciary is independent of the other two branches of government and is committed to guaranteeing fair trials and equality before the law. It has broad and effective powers of judicial review.
The Constitution of Uzbekistan was adopted on 8 December 1992 on the 11th session of the Supreme Council of Uzbekistan. It replaced the Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan of 1978. It is the supreme law of the Republic of Uzbekistan. The Constitution of Uzbekistan contains six parts and it is further divided into 26 chapters.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) is a first-instance tribunal and superior court of record in the United Kingdom. It is primarily an inquisitorial court.
The Constitution of Barbados is the supreme law under which Barbados is governed. The Constitution provides a legal establishment of the Government of Barbados, as well as legal rights and responsibilities of the public and various other government officers. The Constitution which came into force in 1966 was amended in 1974, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The 1966 document succeeds several other documents concerning administration of Barbados. One of them, the Barbados Charter, is discussed in the present Constitution's Preamble. Prior statutes were created for the administration of Barbados as a colony. As a former English and later British colony, the Constitution is similar to those of other former Commonwealth realms, yet distinctly different in the spirit of the Statute of Westminster.
The Federal Constitutional Court is the supreme constitutional court for the Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law of Germany. Since its inception with the beginning of the post-World War II republic, the court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe, which is also the seat of the Federal Court of Justice.
Peter-Herbert Frank is a German jurist who is currently serving as a judge in the Federal Constitutional Court in the second senate. Prior to this, he served as Public Prosecutor General and as Attorney General for the Higher Regional Court of Munich.
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The Constitutional Court of Hamburg is the constitutional court of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the highest court and one of the three constitutional bodies of this state. The court is located in the building of the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Justizforum Hamburg at Sievekingplatz. Birgit Voßkühler has been President of the Court since February 2020. She is the first woman to hold this office.