THE BULLETIN This special edition of the Bulletin on Constitutional Case-Law is dedicated to the descrip- tions of Constitutional Courts and equivalent bodies (Constitutional Councils, Supreme Courts with constitutional powers). These descriptions will enable readers to place the case-law of these courts, published in the Bulletin and the CODICES database, into their context. It sets out descriptions of a whole range of Constitutional Courts in a standard layout (Introduction – Fundamental texts – Composition and organisation – Jurisdiction – Nature and effects of judgments – Conclusion) so as to provide a quick overview and facilitate comparisons of courts. Descriptions of 60 Constitutional Courts or equivalent bodies in the Venice Commission’s member, associate member and observer states are brought together in this Special Edition, in which Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas are all represented. All the contributions were either supplied or updated by the liaison officers, whom I should like to thank most sincerely for their work, as the preparation of this document would have been much more difficult without their active involvement. In our fast-moving world, courts and equivalent bodies, like all living things, evolve, adapt and change. It is therefore difficult to give a description of all the courts in this volume, and it is even more difficult to guarantee that the information provided will remain completely accurate over time. I therefore invite you to refer to CODICES, the Venice Commission’s database on constitu- tional case-law, which – alongside the descriptions of the courts – includes some 8 000 précis and the full texts of court judgments, constitutions and legislation on constitutional courts, and is updated regularly (www.CODICES.coe.int). Searches can be carried out easily using the Systematic Thesaurus and the Alphabetical Index. I hope that you will find this special Bulletin on Constitutional Case-Law a useful tool and enjoy reading it. T. Markert Secretary of the European Commission for Democracy through Law THE VENICE COMMISSION The European Commission for Democracy through Law, better known as the Venice Commission, has played a leading role in the adoption of constitutions in Central and Eastern Europe that conform to the standards of Europe’s constitutional heritage. Initially conceived as an instrument of emergency constitutional engineering against a background of transition towards democracy, the Commission since has gradually evolved into an internationally recognised independent legal think-tank. It acts in the constitutional field understood in a broad sense, which includes, for example, laws on constitutional courts, laws governing national minorities and electoral law. Established in 1990 as a partial agreement of 18 member states of the Council of Europe, the Commission in February 2002 became an enlarged agreement, comprising all 47 member States of the organisation and working with some other 14 countries from Africa, America, Asia and Europe. Secretariat of the Venice Commission Council of Europe F-67075 STRASBOURG CEDEX Tel: (33) 3 88413908 – Fax: (33) 3 88413738 [email protected] Editors: Sc. R. Dürr, C. de Broutelles T. Gerwien A. Gorey, M.-L. Wigishoff Liaison officers: Albania ............................................................ N. Ruco Kyrgyz Republic .......................................... A. Baetov Algeria ....................................................... H. Bengrine Latvia .......................................................... L. Jurcena Andorra .......................................... M. Tomàs-Baldrich Liechtenstein .................................................. I. Elkuch Argentina ................................................ R. E. Gialdino Lithuania ................................................... J. Urbonaite Armenia .................................................... G. Vahanian Luxembourg .................................................. G. Santer Austria ............................................... C. Grabenwarter Malta ................................................................. A. Ellul ............................................... / B. Adamovich-Wagner Azerbaijan ................................................... R. Guliyev Mexico ............................................ A. Guevara Castro Belarus ............................ S. Chigrinov / T. Voronovich ............................................... / F. Tortolero Cervantes ............................................................ / V. Seledevsky Moldova ..................................................... R. Secrieru Belgium .................. A. Rasson Roland / R. Ryckeboer Monaco ......................................................... C. Sosso Bosnia and Herzegovina .............................. Z. Djuricic Montenegro ............................................. N. Dobardzic Brazil ............................................................... L. Coni Morocco .................................................... A. Hassouni Bulgaria .................................. E. Enikova / T. Todorov Netherlands .................. M. Chebti / M. van Roosmalen Canada ..................................... D. Power / S. Giguère Norway .............................................. K. Buun Nygaard Chile ............................................. C. Garcia Mechsner Peru ................... F. Morales / F. Paredes San Roman Croatia ........................................................ M. Stresec Poland .......................................................... M. Nowak Cyprus ......................... N. Papanicolaou / M. Kyriacou Portugal ........................................... M. Baptista Lopes Czech Republic ................. S. Matochová / L. Majerčík Romania ....................................... T. Toader / M. Safta ................................................................... / I. Pospisil Denmark ...................................................... L. Nielsen Russia ................................... E. Grushko / A. Antanov Estonia ........................................ K. Aule / U. Eesmaa Serbia ..................................................... V. Jakovljevic Finland ....... H. Klemettinen / G. Bygglin / T. Vuorialho Slovakia ....... G. Fetkova / J. Stiavnicky / Z. Mozesova France ...................... C. Petillon / L. Brau / V. Gourrier Slovenia ..................................... v. Bozic / T. Preseren Georgia ............................................. I. Khakhutaishvili South Africa ............................... E. Cameron / M. Finn Germany ....................................... S. Baer / M. Böckel ..................................................... S. Luthuli / P. Smith Greece .......................... T. Ziamou / O. Papadopoulou Spain .............................................. L. Pomed Sanchez Hungary ................................. P. Paczolay / K. Kovács Sweden ................................. L. Molander / K. Norman Iceland ...................................................... H. Torfason Switzerland .......... P. Tschümperlin / J. Alberini-Boillat Ireland .................................................... R. McNamara “The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” ............ Israel ............................................................. K. Azulay ....................................................... T. Janjic Todorova Italy .......................................................... G. Cattarino Turkey ........................................................... A. Coban Japan ......................................................... T. Shintaku Kazakhstan ....................................... B. Nurmukhanov Ukraine ................................................. O. Kravchenko Republic of Korea ................... J. Kim / H. Lee / K. Lim United Kingdom ............................................ J. Sorabji United States of America .................. P. Krug / C. Vasil .................................................................... / J. Minear European Court of Human Rights .................................. A. Vilfan Vospernik / L. Pardoe Court of Justice of the European Union ..................................................... S. Hackspiel Inter-American Court of Human Rights ........................................................ J. Recinos Strasbourg, October 2014 CONTENTS Albania ....................................................................... 5 Korea, Republic ..................................................... 106 Algeria ........................................................................ 7 Latvia ..................................................................... 110 Andorra .................................................................... 10 Lithuania ................................................................ 115 Argentina .................................................................. 12 Luxembourg ........................................................... 118 Armenia .................................................................... 15 Malta ...................................................................... 120 Austria ...................................................................... 19 Mexico .................................................................... 122 Azerbaijan ................................................................ 22 Moldova ................................................................. 125 Belarus ....................................................................