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The Federal Constitutional Court (in , the '' Grundgesetz '' (Basic Law). From its inception, the Court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe , intentionally dislocated from the other federal institutions (earlier in Bonn , now in Berlin ). The sole task of the court is Judicial Review . It may therefore declare public acts Unconstitutional and thus render them ineffective. As such, it is somewhat similar to the Supreme Court Of The United States . However, it differs from it and other Supreme Courts in that it is not part of the regular judicial system, but more a unique judicial branch. Most importantly, it does not serve as a regular Court Of Appeals from lower courts or the Federal Supreme Court (BGH) as a sort of “superappellate court” on any violation of federal laws. Its jurisdiction is focused on constitutional issues, the integrity of the ''Grundgesetz'' and the immediate compliance of any governmental institution in any detail (article 1 subsection 3 of the ''Grundgesetz''). Even constitutional amendments or changes passed by the Parliament are subject to its judicial review, since they have to be compatible with the most basic principles of the ''Grundgesetz'' (due to its Article 79 (3), the so called 'eternity clause'). The court’s practice of enormous constitutional control frequency on the one hand, and the continuity in judicial self-restraint and political revision on the other hand, created a unique defender of the ''Grundgesetz'' since World War II and assigned a remarkably outstanding role in a modern democracy. PROCEDURES Article 20 subsection 3 of the ''Grundgesetz'' stipulates that all the three branches of the state –legislative, executive and judicial– are bound directly by the constitution. As a result, the court can abolish acts of all three branches as unconstitutional — either for formal violations, e.g. exceeding powers or violating procedures, or for material conflicts, e.g. because the civil rights prescribed in the ''Grundgesetz'' were not respected. Due to the principle of subsidiarity, no case may be brought before it until judicial review through another court branch has been completed. Decisions of the court on material conflicts are put into force through a federal law by the Federal Constitutional Court Act (BVerfGG). The Constitutional Court has several strictly defined procedures in which cases may be brought before it:
ORGANIZATION The Court consists of two Senates, each of which has eight members, headed by a senate’s chairman. The members of each Senate are allocated to three Chambers for hearings in Constitutional Complaint and Single Regulation Control cases. Each Chamber consists of three judges, so each Senate chairman is at the same time a member of two Chambers. Decisions by a Senate require an absolute majority of 5 votes (in some cases a 2/3 majority is required, i.e. 6 out of 8 votes), decisions by a Chamber need to be unanimous. A Chamber is not authorized to overrule a standing precendent of the Senate to which it belongs; such issues need to be submitted to the Senate as a whole. Similarly, a Senat may not overrule a standing precedent of the other Senate, such issues will be submitted to a plenary meeting of all 16 judges (the "Plenum"). Unlike all other German courts, the court often publishes the vote count on its decisions (though only the final tally, not every judge's personal vote) and even allows its members to issue a Dissenting Opinion . This possibility, which was only introduced in 1971, is a remarkable deviation from German judicial tradition. One of the two Senate Chairmen is also the President of the Court, the other one is the Vice-President. The presidency alternates between the two Senates, i.e. the successor of a President is always chosen from the other Senate. The current president of the Court is Hans-Jürgen Papier . ELECTION OF JUDGES The Court's judges are elected by the Bundestag and the Bundesrat . According to the Basic Law , each of these bodies selects four members of each Senate, while the authority to select the Court's President alternates between them. The selection of a judge requires a 2/3 majority. As a matter of fact, the Bundestag has delegated this task to a special body ("Richterwahlausschuss"), consisting of a small number of Bundestag members. This procedure has caused some constitutional concern and is considered to be unconstitutional by many scholars. However, it has never been challenged in a court. Since the only court that could hold this procedure unconstitutional is the Constitutional Court itself, this question will probably never be settled. The judges are elected for a 12-year term, but they must retire when reaching the age of 68. A judge must be at least 40 years old and must be a well-trained jurist. Three out of eight members of each Senat must have served as a judge of a Federal Supreme Court. Of the other five members of each Senate, most judges previously served as a professor of law at a University, a public servant or an attorney. After ending their term, most judges withdraw themselves from public life. However, there are some prominent exceptions, most notably Roman Herzog , who was elected Federal President in 1994 , shortly before the end of his term as President of the Court. MEMBERS First Senate (current only) Second Senate (current only) Presidents of the Senate
All judges
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