Constitutional Court of Austria

to law...; on deciding conicts between the highest courts,

calculating the Constitutional Court itself ...; and on deciding on State liability claims in regard to decisions of
the highest courts, calculating the Constitutional Court
itself.[4]

3 Judges
The Constitutional Court consists of twenty judges: a
president, a vice president, twelve other judges, and six
substitute judges.[5]
The president and vice president of the court, as well as
half of the further members and substitute judges, are appointed by the president of Austria. The remainder of the
court are appointed by the president from a list (consisting of three times of the number of available positions)
submitted by the bicameral Austrian Parliament, with the
National Council (Nationalrat) suggesting three members
and two substitutes and the Federal Council (Bundesrat)
suggesting three members and one substitute.[5] By convention, candidates are eectively selected by each of
the two main political partiesthe SP and the VP
maintaining a rough political balance on the court.[5]
Historically, university professors made up most of the
members of the court, but today the majority of the court
were formerly practicing attorneys.[5]

The former Bhmische Hofkanzlei, where the Constitutional

Court resided until 2012

VfGH redirects here. For the Verein fr germanisches

Heidentum, see Neopaganism in German-speaking
Europe.
The Constitutional Court of Austria (German: Verfassungsgerichtshof, VfGH), is one of three judicial bodies
charged with nal appellate jurisdiction in Austria.

History

To be eligible for appointment, a prospective judge must

The VfGH was established in 1920 and is one of the old- have ten years of legal expedience. A member of the
est constitutional courts in the world.[1][2] The VfGH was court cannot serve simultaneously as a member of parliathe successor to the older Imperial Law Court.[3]
ment or government ocial in either the federal government or a state (Bundesland) government, or as an employee or functionary of a political party.[5]

Jurisdiction and relationship

with other highest Austrian
courts

The judges of the Constitutional Court serve for life but

judges must retire at the end of the year in which they
turn 70 years old.[5]

The Constitutional Court deals with constitutional law,

while the Administrative Court deals with public law,
and the Supreme Court with civil and criminal matters.
These three courts are hierarchically on the same level,
with no superiority or subordination between them, except in certain procedural contexts... where the Constitutions Court nds itself in a superior position visa-vis the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court, notably regarding the Constitutional Courts
exclusive competence on rescinding general norms by
declaring laws unconstitutional and ordinances contrary

4 See also
Constitution of Austria

5 References
[1] Better Regulation in Europe Better Regulation in Europe:
Austria 2010. OECD Publishing. 2010. p. 61. Retrieved
5 August 2015.

[2] History of the Constitutional Court. Constitutional

Court of Austria. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
[3] Manfred Stelzer, The Constitution of the Republic of Austria: A Contextual Analysis (Hart Publishing, 2011), p.
197.
[4] Andreas Th. Mller, An Austrian Mnage Trois: The
Convention, the Charter and the Constitution " in The UK
and European Human Rights: A Strained Relationship?
(eds. Katja S. Ziegler, Elizabeth Wicks & Loveday Hodson: Bloomsbury, 2015), p. 318 & n.115.
[5] Nigel Foster, Austrian Legal System and Laws (Cavendish
Publishing: 2003), pp. 38-39.

External links
Ocial website

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

7.1

Text

Constitutional Court of Austria Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_Court_of_Austria?oldid=727893781 Contributors:

Neutrality, The Transhumanist, StAnselm and Doctor Papa Jones

7.2

Images

File:Boehmische_Hofkanzlei_Vienna_April_2007_003.jpg Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/
Boehmische_Hofkanzlei_Vienna_April_2007_003.jpg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Gryndor

7.3

Content license

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0