Bringing an action
Any resident may bring an action here. In the matters the Constitution names, no personal interest need be shown.
Article 231(1): any resident may bring an action under Article 43, without showing a personal interest where the action concerns the distribution of functions, the ecological budgets, the rights of Title III, or the participation this Constitution requires.
Article 231(4): court fees, security for costs and adverse costs orders are excluded in actions under this Article, except where the Court finds the action vexatious.
What an application states
| Item | Requirement |
|---|---|
| The act challenged | The law, decision, plan, measure or omission, identified so that it can be found |
| The organ that adopted it | Named. Where the applicant cannot identify it, the Court obtains the information. |
| The provision engaged | Stated if known. An application citing no provision or the wrong one is decided on the provision that applies. |
| The relief sought | Stated if known. The Court is in no case confined to the relief requested. |
| Interim relief | Applied for separately where a credible risk of irreparable harm exists |
Where to lodge
At any communal office, at the registry of any court, by letter, or through the public information system. An application may be made in any language of record and may be spoken to a clerk, who writes it down and reads it back before issuing a receipt.
Access to a court is secured within reasonable distance of every residence, and communes without a court are served by sittings held within them. An application to the Court may be lodged at any of those sittings.
Who else has standing
Article 231(3): communes, sub-regions, regions, cooperatives, federations, unions, workplace assemblies, user and neighbourhood assemblies, the Ecological Budget Authority and the offices of Title IX hold standing within their fields.
The Defender of Rights may bring a proceeding in its own name or in support of a complainant, and may intervene in any proceeding concerning a right of Title III. The Commissioner for Future Generations has standing before the Ecological Chamber. The Office of Democratic Integrity refers acts within Article 265 and courses of conduct within Article 266.
Assistance
Legal assistance is secured without charge to any person requiring it, and the registry of the Court directs an applicant to it on request. An application is refused in no case for want of legal form, and a defect capable of cure is notified with the cure stated.
Vexatious actions
Fees, security and adverse costs are excluded, with one exception: a finding by the Court that an action is vexatious. Two such findings have been made since the Court was constituted, both concerning repeated applications on a question already decided between the same parties. The findings are published with the reasons.