Jurisdiction
This page sets out the matters assigned to the Court and the bodies that may bring each of them.
| Matter | Basis | Who may bring it |
|---|---|---|
| Conformity of a text before promulgation | Article 137 | The organs Article 137 names, in the period before promulgation |
| Reference by a court upon a question of conformity | Article 195 | Any court seised of a case in which the question arises |
| Challenge to a promulgated law or to an act of any organ | Article 43, Article 231(1) | Any resident, without showing a personal interest in the cases the Constitution names |
| Action against the plan or a planning body | Article 143(9) | The applicants Article 143(9) names |
| Conflict of competence between organs or territories | Article 143(11), Article 189 | The organ or territory whose competence is in issue |
| Restriction or dissolution of a political association | Article 12(3) | Referred by the Office of Democratic Integrity. The Court alone decides. |
| Appeal in a disciplinary matter concerning a judge | Article 206(4) | The judge concerned, or the Judicial Inspectorate |
| Removal of a member of the Ecological Budget Authority | Article 24(3) | The applicants that Article names |
| Removal of a member of an oversight office | Article 239(1) | The Judicial Council, or the college of the office concerned |
| Ecological actions in the name of a natural entity | Article 19, Article 27 | Any person, with no showing of personal injury, residence, nationality or economic interest |
What belongs to another court
Article 200(4): the National Court decides no question of the conformity of a norm with this Constitution, which belongs to the Constitutional Chamber under Article 195.
The division runs the other way as well. Cassation upon a question of law, divergence between regional courts, and manifest breach of procedure belong to the National Court under Article 200(2). The Court decides no such question, and a party raising one before it is directed to the court that has competence over it.
Ecological actions under Article 19 may be brought at first instance before any competent court. Article 198(4) gives the Ecological Chamber of the Court a concurrent first-instance jurisdiction in those matters, so an applicant may choose.
Guardianship of the distribution of functions
Article 230(1): the Court guards the distribution of functions established by Article 13 and enforces the limits this Constitution places upon the Assembly, upon the executive committees, upon the planning bodies, upon the territories and upon itself.
Article 230(2): the union of legislative and executive functions in the Assembly enlarges the powers of neither under Article 154(6), and the Court determines whether an act of the Assembly or of a committee has exceeded them.
The Republic places the executive function in committees of the Assembly and has no separate ministry. Article 154(6) provides that the combination adds nothing to either function, and the Court decides in a contested case whether a committee has done something the Assembly itself could not have done.
Acts void in every case
The Constitution lists the acts that are void whoever adopts them, by whatever majority and by whatever procedure. Article 265(3) allows any person to plead the nullity before any court at any time, so those matters reach the Court by referral and reach the ordinary courts directly. Article 266 extends the same nullity to a measure attaining such a result in substance, and to a series of measures attaining it cumulatively.
The Office of Democratic Integrity has two such referrals pending before the Court. Its register of referrals states each one.
Entrenchment
Article 223(1): the number of justices, the duration and staggering of their terms, the appointment by lot, the composition of the pool, the jurisdiction of the Court and the composition of the Judicial Council are fixed by this Constitution and by organic law adopted under it.
Article 223(2): an organic law altering any of those matters takes effect only after the first ordinary election of the Assembly following its promulgation, and applies in no case to a justice, a judge or a member of the Council in office.