The Constitutional Court of Spain (Spanish: Tribunal Constitucional de España) is the highest judicial body with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes of the Spanish Government. It is defined in Part IX (sections 159 through 165) of the Constitution of Spain, and further governed by Organic Laws 2/1979 (aka Law of the Constitutional Court of October 3, 1979),^[1] 8/1984, 4/1985, 6/1988, 7/1999 and 1/2000^[2]. The court is the "supreme interpreter"^[2] of the Constitution, but since the court is not a part of the rest of the Spanish judiciary,^[2] for almost all other judicial matters, the Supreme Court is the highest court.^[3] Coat of Arms of the King of Spain King of Spain redirects here. ... Juan Carlos I, King of Spain (baptized as Juan Carlos Alfonso Víctor María de Borbón y Borbón-Orleans; IPA: ) was born 5 January 1938 in Rome and is the reigning King of Spain (Rey de España). ... The Prime Minister, or President of the Government (Spanish: Presidente del Gobierno), of Spain is the Spanish head of government. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... (1977 - 1979): Council of Ministers of Spain (1st Legislature) (1979 - 1982): Council of Ministers of Spain (2nd Legislature) (1982 - 1986): Council of Ministers of Spain (3rd Legislature) (1986 - 1989): Council of Ministers of Spain (4th Legislature) (1989 - 1993): Council of Ministers of Spain (5th Legislature) (1993 - 1996): Council of Ministers... The Cortes Generales (Spanish for General Courts) is the legislature of Spain. ... The Spanish Senate (Spanish: Senado) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales, Spains legislative branch. ... The Spanish Congress of Deputies (Spanish: Congreso de los Diputados) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spains legislative branch. ... Political parties in Spain lists political parties in Spain. ... Elections in Spain gives information on election and election results in Spain. ... The Spanish general election of 1977 took place on June 15. ... El País official webpage (spanish) Congreso de españa official webpage (spanish) Categories: | ... Image:Felipe-1982. ... In this election, the Communist Party of Spain merged with other minor left parties to form the coalition Izquierda Unida; in Catalonia they ran as the Unió de L`Esquerra Catalana. ... Official results [1] Categories: | ... Official results Categories: | ... Legislative elections were held in Spain on March 3, 1996. ... Legislative elections were held in Spain on March 12, 2000. ... Map of Spains electoral circumscriptions, and the parties leading in each circumscription in the election for the Congress of Deputies Legislative elections were held in Spain on March 14, 2004. ... The General Council of the Judicial Power is the autonomous institution which governs all the judicial instances of Spain, such as tribunals, courts, and judges, as it is established by the Spanish Constitution of 1978, article 122. ... The Audiencia Nacional de España, is a high court in Spain. ... An ombudsman is an official, usually (but not always) appointed by the government or by parliament, who is charged with representing the interests of the public by investigating and addressing complaints reported by individual citizens. ... Autonomous communities of Spain. ... This article is about the Spanish capital. ... List of Spanish Regional Governments Spain has 17 autonomous regions (comunidades autonomas), plus two autonomous cities (ciudades autonomas). ... List of Spanish Regional Legislatures Autonomous Communities Andalucia - Parlamento de Andalucia Aragon - Cortes de Aragón Asturias - Parlamento de Asturias Basque Country - Eusko Legebiltzarra Canary Islands - Parlamento de Canarias Cantabria - Parlamento de Cantabria Castilla y León - Cortes de Castilla y León Castilla La Mancha - Cortes de Castilla La... In addition to its seventeen autonomous communities, Spain is divided into fifty provinces. ... Spain is a democracy with a Constitutional monarch. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... After the return of democracy following the death of General Franco in 1975, Spains foreign policy priorities were to break out of the diplomatic isolation of the Franco years and expand diplomatic relations, enter the European Community, and define security relations with the West. ... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... A Constitutional Court is a high court found in many countries which deals primary with constitutional law. ... October 3 is the 276th day of the year (277th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ...

Powers

The Constitutional Court is authorized to rule on the constitutionality of laws, acts, or regulations set forth by the national or the regional parliaments. It also may rule on the constitutionality of international treaties before they are ratified, if requested to do so by the government, the Congress of Deputies, or the Senate. The Constitution further declares that individual citizens may appeal to the Constitutional Court for protection against governmental acts that violate their "fundamental rights or freedoms"^[1]. Only individuals directly affected can make this appeal, called a recursos de amparo, and they can do this only after exhausting other judicial appeals.^[4] Public officials, specifically "the President of the Government, the Defender of the People, fifty Members of Congress, fifty Senators, the Executive body of a Self-governing Community and, where applicable, its Assembly"^[5], may also request that the court determine the constitutionality of a law. The General Electoral Law of June 1985 additionally allows appeals to this court in cases where electoral boards exclude candidates from the ballot.^[1]

In addition, this court has the power to preview the constitutionality of texts delineating statutes of autonomy and to settle conflicts of jurisdiction between the central and the autonomous community governments, or between the governments of two or more autonomous communities. Because many of the constitutional provisions pertaining to autonomy questions are ambiguous and sometimes contradictory, this court could play a critical role in Spain's political and social development.^[4]

The decisions of the Constitutional Court cannot be appealed by anyone.^[1][6]

Composition

This court consists of twelve judges who serve for nine-year terms. Four of these are nominated by the Congress of Deputies, four by the Senate, two by the executive branch of the government, and two by the General Council of the Judiciary;^[4] all are formally appointed by the King.^[1] The Constitution sets a minimum standard of fifteen years of experience in fields related to jurisprudence, including "magistrates and prosecutors, university professors, public officials and lawyers,"^[7] and must not contemporaneously hold a position that may detract from their independence, such as a post in a political party or a representative position.^[8] Amongst and by the members of the court, a President is elected for a three-year term, who is assisted by a vice-president and a general secretary. ^[1]

Notable decisions

In 2005, the court ruled that the rest of the Spanish judicial system could handle cases concerning crimes against humanity, such as genocide, regardless of whether Spanish citizens were involved or directly affected.^[9] In this instance, it reversed the decision made by the Supreme Court in the same case, which held that such cases could only be brought before Spanish courts if a Spanish victim was involved.^[10] This article is in need of attention. ...

References

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Part IX of the Spanish Constitution

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