The constitution (
Grundgesetz
The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany () is the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The West German Constitution was approved in Bonn on 8 May 1949 and came into effect on 23 May after having been approved by the oc ...
) of the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...
establishes a separate
Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
The Federal Constitutional Court ( ; abbreviated: ) is the supreme court, supreme constitutional court for the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany, established by the constitution or Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, Basic Law ...
(Bundesverfassungsgericht) that is empowered with reviewing acts of the
legislature
A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...
(which mainly refers to the Federal Republic's Congress – the
Bundestag
The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...
and
Bundesrat) for their
constitutionality
In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...
.
Most
states
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
(Bundesländer) also have separate courts for the according purpose. These are separate Supreme Courts that do not deal with appellate cases in civil and criminal law – but rather, just in constitutional cases.
The Federal Constitutional Court of Germany can also review and reject constitutional amendments on the grounds that they are contradictory to the rest of the Federal Constitution ("Verfassungswidriges Verfassungsrecht"), unlike, for instance, the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
and the
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; , ) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants eac ...
. An amendment may only be rejected however if it conflicts with the principles of Article 1 and 20, since they may never be changed as determined by Article 79 (
eternity clause).
See also
*
Constitutional complaint (Germany)
The (individual) constitutional complaint () is an extraordinary legal remedy in German law. The procedure serves to vindicate constitutional rights under the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany (''Grundgesetz'', abbreviated GG). Constitut ...
– Procedure permitting private persons to initiate review of a particular state action that may be in violation of their own subjective rights under constitutional law before the Federal Constitutional Court
External links
*
*
*
German constitutional law
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
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