Constitutional Court of Spain
The Spanish Constitutional Court (Spanish Tribunal Constitucional ) stands outside the hierarchy of the Spanish specialized courts and judges specifically on the question of the compatibility of acts of public violence with the provisions of the Spanish Constitution. With this order, only the Constitutional Court is entitled competence goes hand in hand to discard law in the formal sense as unconstitutional and annulled. The decisions of the Constitutional Court have the force of law and are published in the Spanish Journal of Laws, the Boletín Oficial del Estado ( BOE).
The decision accessible by the constitutional court of law in the jurisdiction Catalogue of the Organic Law (Ley Orgánica 2/1979, de 3 de octubre, del Tribunal Constitucional; abbreviated LOTC ), which simultaneously sets the legal framework for the organization and operation of the Constitutional Court, listed (see IV ). Finally, the Spanish Constitutional Court Act was amended with organic law of 24 May 2007 (Ley Orgánica 6/2007 ). His seat has the Spanish Constitutional Court in Madrid.
- 4.1 Abstract and concrete norm control
- 4.2 constitutional complaint ( Recurso de amparo )
- 4.3 jurisdictional disputes between the state and autonomous regions
- 4.4 dispute between organs
- 4.5 Municipal constitutional complaint
- 4.6 International Treaties
- 4.7 Appointment of members
General
The Spanish Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo ) is at the top of the Spanish specialized jurisdiction and final instance in all proceedings. The decisions of the Supreme Court can be explained due to the violation of specific constitutional law to be invalid only by the Spanish Constitutional Court in the context of the legally certain types of procedures. The differences between the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court are therefore not hierarchical, but competence of a legal nature.
With the amendment of the Constitutional Court Act of 24 May 2007, the Constitutional Court has been given the sometimes controversial distribution of powers strengthened in this respect in particular in relation to the Supreme Court, as only the Constitutional Court is on its jurisdiction under the jurisdiction of the catalog and the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court once adopted by no other court may be claimed.
To avoid conflicts due to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court for civil liability issues related to official acts of the judges of the Constitutional Court, the latter should be granted by a legislative initiative from 2005 immunity. Background was the condemnation of judges of the Constitutional Court to pay damages by the Supreme Court. The initiative has not been implemented; only individual, in 2005, proposed new regulations are now in force with the above Amendment Act of 24 May 2007.
Composition
Election procedures and terms of office
The Spanish Constitutional Court is composed of twelve members, the Magistrados. These are appointed by decree (Real Decreto ) from the Spanish king. The appointment of four judges at the proposal of the two chambers of the Cortes Generales (Congress and Senate). Two other judges be proposed by the government and the " General Council of the Judicial Power " ( Consejo General del Poder Judicial ). For the vote in the Cortes Generales as a qualified majority of 3 /5 of the members of each chamber must vote for a candidate.
The appointment of judges is carried out for a period of nine years. Every three years, will be replaced after the expiration of their term of office by new judges one-third of the judges. Personal Qualifications for appointment to the Constitutional Court is next to the Spanish nationality, the area occupied by more than 15 years of professional experience and competence of the generally recognized standing for election lawyers. This can for example be employed in the public service or as an attorney as prosecutor, judge, professor, civil servant.
The Constitutional Court of the member judges are independent and irremovable. During their tenure, they are prohibited to hold political offices, positions or managerial positions in a political party or trade union and to exercise a professional activity.
In the public perception of the members of the Constitutional Court of either the progressive (ie PSOE near) or the conservative (PP- near) bearings are assigned. As a 3/5-Mehrheit is necessary for appointment to the posts to be filled by the Congress or the Senate judgeships, resulting so far in fact the need for an agreement between the two major parties (PSOE and PP).
In the years 2007-2012 there was a blockage in the replacement of the Judges of the budget since the two major parties could not agree. For the actually end of 2007 to be filled by the Senate four judges item it came the end of 2010 to reach an agreement, ie, with a delay of three years. The actual forthcoming end of 2010 have been replaced by the Congress four judges items were only in mid-2012 re-staffed due to the same problems, ie, with a delay of one and a half years. In the meantime, the previous judge stayed further in office.
Due to this blockade in the actually long overdue replacement, the Court found itself in a deep institutional crisis that touched public acceptance of its decisions. So was often referred to the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia as in the critique of the judgment of the Court of 28 June 2010 that this had been taken by a constitutional court in non-regular cast members.
At the last renewal occurred in June 2013, this time without delay. These were the two from the government and the two posts to be filled by the Consejo General del Poder Judicial Judges. Since there is a 7:5 majority of the conservative camp:
Organization
The seat of the Constitutional Court is Madrid. The twelve judges of the Court forming the so -called plenum ( pleno ), which is located in two senates ( salas ) allocates six judges. In further subdivisions, the so-called divisions ( secciones ), three judges decide on the admissibility and thus the acceptance of applications for decision by the Constitutional Court. With the exception of constitutional complaints, which deals exclusively with the Senate, the Constitutional Court always decides in the cast of the plenum.
The assembly shall elect by secret ballot from among its members a president who is then proposed to the King on the appointment. The presidential term of office is three years. After this process, the appointment of the Vice President takes. President and Vice President take over the chairmanship of the first and second senate of the Constitutional Court.
The previous exercise, after which the term of office of the President extended to the Constitutional Court as a judge until the end of his nationality, has been written now by law with the above Amendment Act of 24 May 2007.
Jurisdiction
The following types of proceedings or legal issues are assigned to the Constitutional Court for decision:
Abstract and concrete norm control
Subject matter may be ( eg Decrees and Decrees - leyes legislativos ) while both laws in the formal and the material sense, while legislative acts of the executive branch (eg Reglamentos ) are subject to inspection and rejection competence of the specialized courts. If the court the unconstitutionality and thus the nullity of a standard fixed, then the nullity extends only to the provision in question, if the law remains accessible for the rest of an application. The normal control subject than organic laws and the statutes of the autonomous regions of Spain.
Constitutional complaint ( Recurso de amparo )
Subject matter is an act of public authority by which a holder of fundamental rights claimed to be violated his constitutional rights. Prerequisite for appeal to the Constitutional Court is the exhaustion of remedies. Given the high number of (mostly illegal ) constitutional complaints have been increased and the presentation and justification of a constitutional complaint with the change of the Constitutional Court Act of 24 May 2007 the requirements. The principles of judicial exhaustion and subsidiarity of the constitutional complaint are emphasized more clearly than in the previously applicable version of the Constitutional Court Act.
Jurisdictional disputes between the state and autonomous regions
Exists between the Spanish State ( Estado ) and the autonomous regions ( Comunidades Autónomas ), or between the latter a dispute over the respective local authority powers assigned to and the exercise of, the State or the affected regions can apply to the Constitutional Court.
Dispute between organs
The Constitutional Court shall decide on disputes between constitutional bodies with regard to the rights in question it. Looks a constitutional body injured in his constitutionally provided rights by an act of another institution or herein constitutes an impermissible interference in the powers assigned to the institution, it may request clarification of the question by the Constitutional Court.
Municipal constitutional complaint
In this method, the local authorities can interference in the rights assigned to them, including in the area of self-government, ward by the State or the autonomous regions.
International treaties
Before the entry into force and thus obtaining the force of law, international treaties in case of doubt may be presented as to its compatibility with the Spanish Constitutional Law to the Constitutional Court for review.
Appointment of members
The Constitutional Court decides on the legality of the appointment of the court member judges.
More decision-making powers are or may in the Constitutional Court by organic laws ( Leyes orgánicas ) can be assigned. The statement of a party ban is in contrast to the German rules on jurisdiction reserved to the Spanish Supreme Court.
Citation of decisions
Judgments are abbreviated as STC ( Sentencia del Tribunal Constitucional ), decisions with ATC (Auto del Tribunal Constitucional ). It follows the sequence number of each decision in the calendar year. With " STC 103/2008 " for example, So the 103 ruling in 2008 meant. The sentences are divided into a statement of the facts ( antecedentes ) and the decision ( Fundamentos jurídicos, abbreviated FJ ), following the conclusion of the tenor ( fallo ). By specifying " STC 103/2008, FJ 4" for example, Reference is made to Item 4 of the grounds of its judgment 103/2008.
The decisions are all available on the website of the court.