Constitutional review and constitutional courts particular type of judicial review courts examine constitutionality of government laws typically the responsibility of constitutional courts constitutional review exists in both common law and code law systems a common law country may not have constitutional review code law country may have constitutional review UK Germany Italy German constitutional court most powerful constitutional court in Europe declares federal laws unconstitutional reviews compatibility of EU treaties with German constitution but Germany has a code law system Supreme court of UK composed of 12 judges members of House of Lords Law Lord highest appellate court in UK limited power of constitutional review UK had a common law system Special cases a priori review France constitutional council Romania principle of parliamentary supremacy prevents UK supreme court from striking down laws voted in parliament a special type of constitutional review new laws reviewed for constitutionality before they are approved by legislature only members of government president PM member of parliament etc can request a priority review of a bill review by citizens Switzerland laws can be reviewed and potentially annulled by citizens laws can be put to a referendum 50 000 signatures in support of petition for referendum universal jurisdiction Spain national courts have jurisdiction to examine cases of human rights abuses from anywhere in the world since 2010 universal jurisdiction has been restricted only to cases that involve Spaniards or arrests made in Spain Eu treaties and laws override national constitutions and national laws EU Law what is EU law treaties of EU laws made by EU institutions supremacy of EU law Constitution main task set of rules that define the terms of the political game who is to carry out main functions of gov t how power is divided between branches of gov t who controls the military how is citizenship defined and acquired how are government official chosen in which areas does state have authority policies of government what rights do citizens have role of religion symbols of state flag anthem national motto differences among constitutions length strength judicial review cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 rules for adopting new constitution single document vs unwritten constitution UK unwritten constitution when is a constitution necessary when a country gains independence how is a new constitution adopted by supermajority in parliament most common usually 2 3 majority constitutional convention popular referendum Karen Alter European Court of Justice highest court in EU main argument ECJ fundamentally transformed its own role and position in EU through jurisprudence member states were unable to constrain expansion of ECJ powers although it compromise their sovereignty original role of ECJ ensure supranational institutions don t exceed their authority help clarifyEU rules when they were vague rule on cases of non compliance by member states and companies transformation of role court decision set new principles of EU law principle of direct effect every citizen can claim rights from EU law principle of supremacy of EU law EU law surpasses national law these principles increased ECJ power Lech Garlicki Relations between constitutional courts and other supreme courts In each European country there is more than one supreme courts Each supreme court is at top of a specialized hierarchy Supreme court for civil and criminal law Supreme court for administrative law Things that have to do with the actions of a state Citizens can challenge the state Constitutional court for judicial review Each supreme court has a constitutionally mandated jurisdiction kelsenian system Constitutional courts were added in European political systems after other superior courts were already well established Constitutional courts prominence rose after ww2 and increased emphasis on protection of individual rights in European constitutions Tensions between constitutional courts and other supreme courts in different countries A constitutional court may encroach on other supreme court jurisdictions Incidental review procedure a criminal civil or administrative judge asks the constitutional court to address the constitutionality of a statute Constitutional complaint procedure a private litigant challenges a court decision on constitutional grounds Constitutional complaints give constitutional courts more independent power Incidental review gives power to the constitutional courts only to the extent that other superior courts are willing to defer cases to it Examples Germany constitutional complain constitutional court is very powerful in entire system Italy incidental review relations constitutional court and court of cessation mostly harmonious but a balancing act Poland incidental review relations between constitutional court and the supreme court have been adversarial cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127