Referrals
The Office refers matters to the Constitutional Court and to the prosecution service. Both bodies decide for themselves, and a finding of the Office binds neither.
Article 262(1): where the Office finds an act within Article 265, or a course of conduct within Article 266, it publishes the finding and refers the matter to the Constitutional Court under Article 231.
Article 262(2): where the Office finds conduct within Article 12(3), it publishes the finding and refers the matter to the Constitutional Court, which alone decides under that Article.
Article 262(3): where the Office finds an offence, it transmits the file to the prosecution service.
Article 262(4): a referral states the acts found, the evidence, and the provision engaged, and is published with the answer of the organ or person concerned.
Register of referrals
| Date | Referred to | Matter | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 July 2026 | Constitutional Court | Act within Article 265(1)(g): allocation of resources to media organisations by reference to content published | Pending |
| 22 June 2026 | Constitutional Court | Course of conduct within Article 266: three measures reaching cumulatively a result prohibited by Article 265(1)(c) | Pending |
| 12 May 2026 | Prosecution service | Undeclared interest of a delegate in a matter before a planning body | Under investigation |
| 18 February 2026 | Prosecution service | Preference in allocation prohibited by Article 113(3) | Under investigation |
| 4 November 2025 | Prosecution service | Appropriation of public resources, communal building service | Prosecution declined |
No referral matches those conditions.
Acts void in every case
The Constitution lists seventeen 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. Article 265(4) makes the persons who proposed, adopted or executed such an act personally liable.
Two referrals of that kind are pending. One concerns the allocation of resources to media organisations by reference to the content published, within Article 265(1)(g). The other concerns three separate measures which, taken together, reach a result prohibited by Article 265(1)(c).
Attainment by indirection
Article 266(1): a measure that attains in substance a result prohibited by Article 265 is void, whatever its form, its designation or its stated purpose.
Article 266(2): a series of measures attaining such a result cumulatively is void from the measure at which the result is reached, and the Constitutional Court examines them together.
The second referral above relies on this provision. Each of the three measures is lawful read alone. The referral states the point at which they combine and asks the Court to examine them together, which Article 266(2) directs it to do.
Who else may refer
Standing before the Constitutional Court is governed by law, and the Office is one applicant among several. The Defender of Rights has standing under Article 231(3). The Commissioner for Future Generations has standing under Article 19(2). Any person may plead the nullity of an act within Article 265 before any court at any time.