A constitutional court is a high court that deals primarily with constitutional law. Its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established rules, rights, and freedoms, among other things.
Prior to 1919, the United States, Canada and Australia had adopted the concept of judicial review by their courts, following shared principles of their similar common law legal systems, which they, in turn, had inherited from British legal practice (the United Kingdom does not have a codified constitution and judicial review of primary legislation is prohibited). The Parthenopean Republic's constitution of 1799, written by Mario Pagano, envisaged an organ of magistrates reviewing constitutional law, the eforato, but lasted only 6 months. [1] The 1776 Constitution of Pennsylvania and 1777 Constitution of Vermont both 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," [2] [3] an institution somewhat similar to a modern constitutional court.
In 1919 the First Austrian Republic established the first dedicated constitutional court, the Constitutional Court of Austria, which however existed in name only until 10 October 1920, when the country's new constitution came into effect, upon which the court gained the power to review the laws of Austria's federal states. [4] The 1920 Constitution of Czechoslovakia, 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 of Hans Kelsen. [5] 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 the Austrian System , and it was subsequently adopted by many other countries e.g. Liechtenstein (1925), Greece (1927), Spain (1931), Germany (1949) etc.
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 their ordinary court system, with the final decision-making power resting in the supreme ordinary court. Nonetheless, such courts are sometimes also called "constitutional courts". For example, the Supreme Court of the United States has been called the world's oldest constitutional court [6] 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.
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Constitutional Court of Baden-Württemberg (German: Verfassungsgerichthof für das Land Baden-Württemberg; abbreviated: VerfGH BW) is the constiutional court for the German Land (state) of Baden-Württemberg and thereby a constitutional organ on the state level. Besides its power of judicial review (Normenkontrolle ), it has a number of other powers and responsibilities which are assign to it by the state constitution . [10]
Bavarian Constitutional Court (German: Bayrischer Verfassungsgerichthof; abbreviated: VerfGH BY) is the state constitutional court for the Free State of Bavaria. It is, along with the Landesregierung (state government) and the Landtag (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 the state constitution. [11]
Constitutional Court of Berlin (German: Verfassungsgerichthof des Landes Berlin; abbreviated: VerfGH BE) is the constitutional court of the city-state of Berlin which is simultaneously the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is located in the same building as the Kammergericht ( Oberlandesgericht ) and is authorized by Article 84 Constitution of the city-state of Berlin . 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. [12]
Constitutional Court of Brandenburg (German: Verfassungsgerichthof des Landes Brandenburg; abbreviated: VerfG BB) [13]
State Constitutional Court of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (German: Staatsgerichtshof der Freien Hansestadt Bremen; abbreviated: StGH HB) [14]
Constitutional Court of Hamburg (German: Hamburgisches Verfassungsgericht; abbreviated: VerfG HH) [15]
State Constitutional Court of Hesse (StGH HE)
Land Constitutional 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 NRW or VGH NRW)
Constitutional Court of Rhineland-Palatinate (VerfGH RP)
Constitutional Court of Saarland (VerfGH SL)
Constitutional Court of the Free State of Saxony (VerfGH SN)
Land Constitutional Court of Saxony-Anhalt (VerfG ST)
Land Constitutional Court of Schleswig-Holstein (VerfG SH)
Thuringian Constitutional Court (VerfGH TH)
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Federal Republic of Germany, as a federal state, consists of sixteen states. Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen are called Stadtstaaten ("city-states"), while the other thirteen states are called Flächenländer and include Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia, which describe themselves as Freistaaten.
The Kingdom of Prussia constituted the German state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1866 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg. Its capital was Berlin.
A Landtag is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non-federal matters.
Elections in Germany include elections to the Bundestag, the Landtags of the various states, and local elections.
The Federal Constitution of Austria is the body of all constitutional law of the Republic of Austria on the federal level. It is split up over many different acts. Its centerpiece is the Federal Constitutional Law (Bundes-Verfassungsgesetz) (B-VG), which includes the most important federal constitutional provisions.
The law of Germany, that being the modern German legal system, is a system of civil law which is founded on the principles laid out by the Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, though many of the most important laws, for example most regulations of the civil code were developed prior to the 1949 constitution. It is composed of public law, which regulates the relations between a citizen/person and the state or two bodies of the state, and the private law, (Privatrecht) which regulates the relations between two people or companies. It has been subject to a wide array of influences from Roman law, such as the Justinian Code the Corpus Juris Civilis, and a to a lesser extent the Napoleonic Code.
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, and highcourt of appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court are binding on all other courts in a nation and are not subject to further review by any other court. Supreme courts typically function primarily as appellate courts, hearing appeals from decisions of lower trial courts, or from intermediate-level appellate courts. A Supreme Court can also, in certain circumstances, act as a court of original jurisdiction, however, this is typically limited to constitutional law.
The government of Hamburg is divided into executive, legislative and judicial branches. Hamburg is a city-state and municipality, and thus its governance deals with several details of both state and local community politics. It takes place in two ranks – a citywide and state administration, and a local rank for the boroughs. The head of the city-state's government is the First Mayor and President of the Senate. A ministry is called Behörde (office) and a state minister is a Senator in Hamburg. The legislature is the state parliament, called Hamburgische Bürgerschaft, and the judicial branch is composed of the state supreme court and other courts. The seat of the government is Hamburg Rathaus. The President of the Hamburg Parliament is the highest official person of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. This is a traditional difference to the other German states. The president is not allowed to exert any occupation of the executive.
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 Association of German Public Banks is a leading association within the German banking sector, bringing together most of the German public banking sector except the local-level savings banks. Its membership includes 63 banks, including the Landesbanks that are also members of the Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband (DSGV) and form part of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, and promotional and development banks owned by the Federal Republic of Germany or the individual German federal states.
The Constitution of the Free and Hanseatic city of Hamburg is the basic governing document of the German city-state of Hamburg. It was approved on 6 June 1952. It is the fourth constitution that the state has had, consists of 76 articles, and has been amended 34 times.
The State Office for the Protection of the Constitution is a state-level security agency in Germany.
The abolition of Prussia took place on 25 February 1947 through a decree of the Allied Control Council, the governing body of post-World War II occupied Germany and Austria. The rationale was that by doing away with the state that had been at the center of German militarism and reaction, it would be easier to preserve the peace and for Germany to develop democratically.
Richterwahlausschuss is the name of bodies in the German judicial system that elect the judges of the ordinary courts and the special courts on the federal level (Bundesebene) and in some cases also on the level of the states (Landesebene).
The Minister-president is the head of state and government in thirteen of Germany's sixteen states.
In the federal system of the Federal Republic of Germany, the state parliaments embody the legislative power in the sixteen states. In thirteen of the sixteen German states, the state parliament is known as the Landtag. In the states Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the state parliament is called Bürgerschaft (Citizenry), in Berlin it is called Abgeordnetenhaus.
The Constitutional Court of the State of Berlin is the state constitutional court of Berlin. It has its seat at the Kammergericht building in the Schöneberg district of Berlin. Since November 2019, Ludgera Selting is the president of the court.
The Constitutional Court of North Rhine-Westphalia is the constitutional court of the most populous German state NRW. Art. 76 of the state constitutions authorizes and establishes the court. In its history the method of composition has been changed multiple times.
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