The Austrian Constitutional Court – An Overview

Abstract

The Austrian Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof) consists of a President, a Vice-President, twelve members and six substitute members. All justices are appointed by the Austrian Federal President on recommendation of the Austrian Federal Government and the two chambers of the federal parliament, the National Council and the Federal Council. All justices remain in office until the end of the year in which they turn 70 years old. The Court meets at its venue in Vienna for quarterly sessions of three weeks. There is a written procedure. The Court holds public hearings only in rare circumstances. The Constitutional Court Act of 1953 (Verfassungsgerichtshofgesetz 1953 – VfGG) governs the workings of the Court. The rule is that the Court sits in plenary session, but most cases are heard by a panel composed of the President, the Vice-President and four rotating justices. Decisions are made by a simple majority. The deliberations and the vote, however, are not public; there is no possibility to deliver a dissenting (or concurring) opinion. There are between 2000 and 3000 new cases submitted to the Court every year. The average length of the proceedings is nine months.