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An Introduction to the Federal Constitutional Court

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 March 2019

Donald P. Kommers

Extract

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If social and political stability in a democratic state requires effective constitutional review, the brutal instability of German society over the first half of the 20th Century testifies to the shortcomings of earlier manifestations of German constitutionalism and the mechanisms for constitutional review upon which those constitutional systems relied. By the same standard, however, the stability and prosperity West Germany enjoyed (and has continued to enjoy since October 1990, as a reunified Germany) over the last half of the 20th Century bespeaks the integrity and efficacy of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court), the unique constitutional organ celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Type
Research Article
Information
German Law Journal , Volume 2 , Issue 9: Special issue — Fifty Years of the Bundesverfassungsgericht , 2001 , E3
Copyright
Copyright © 2001 by German Law Journal GbR 

References

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A recent survey identifies the following nations as employing “The ‘Austrian’ Model” of constitutional review: (Europe) Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, the Bosnian/Herzegovina Federation, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Poland, Romania, the Russian Federation, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine; (Africa) Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Zaire, Zambia; (Middle East) Cyprus, Palestine, Syria, Yemen; (Asia) Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan; (Central/South America) Chile, Surinam. G. HARUTYUNYAN, A. MAVÈIÈ, CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW AND ITS DEVELOPMENT IN THE MODERN WORLD (A COMPARATIVE CONSTITUTIONAL ANALYSIS) 30–32 (1999).Google Scholar
Justice Wolfgang Zeidler, Public Address; cited in Kommers, p. 14, note 60; the current President of the Court, Justice, Professor Jutta Limbach, recently remarked: “Using a constitutional complaint, anyone claiming to have gad a fundamental right infringed by an act of the authorities may seek protection from the Federal Constitutional Court … this right of appeal [has a] … paradigmatic effect on the decisions that is important for the future conduct of politicians, officials, and judges.” Jutta Limbach, The Role of the Federal Constitutional Court, 53 SMU L. REV. 429 (2000).Google Scholar
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Article 3: At least 40 years of age, eligible for election to the Bundestag and qualified to exercise the functions of a judge.Google Scholar
Article 4: 12 years, not to exceed the age of mandatory retirement.Google Scholar
Articles 5–9: Half of each panel is elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat.Google Scholar
Article 2.Google Scholar
Article 14.Google Scholar
The years in { x } represent the terms for which currently sitting justices were elected.Google Scholar