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 colonial law.[1] 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.[2] 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,"[3] [4] 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.[5] 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.[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 the Austrian System, and it was subsequently adopted by many other countries e.g. Liechtenstein (1925), Greece (1927), Spain (1931), Germany (1949) etc.
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 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[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.
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(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, it has a number of other powers and responsibilities which are assign to it by the .[11]
(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.[12]
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 (German: [[Oberlandesgericht]]) and is authorized by Article 84 . 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]
(German: Verfassungsgerichthof des Landes Brandenburg; abbreviated: VerfG BB)[14]
(German: Staatsgerichtshof der Freien Hansestadt Bremen; abbreviated: StGH HB)[15]
(German: Hamburgisches Verfassungsgericht; abbreviated: VerfG HH)[16]
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)
Before 2020, several republics of Russia had their own constitutional courts, while in other federal subjects like oblasts and federal cities they 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 the Constitutional Court of Russia.
Constitutional and charter courts used to hear cases relating to conformity with regional constitutions or charters of laws adopted by regional legislatures and governors' 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 the 2020 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 of Buryatia and Tuva, the constitutional courts were abolished by the republican constitutional laws in 2018 and 2019, respectively.[26] In the republics of Bashkortostan, Tatarstan, and Sakha, 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 of Chelyabinsk Oblast was disestablished in 2014.