CHAPTER 8
GENERAL RULES FOR THE REVIEW OF CASES IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
ART. 34 Session of the Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court shall review cases during Sessions of the Constitutional Court.
A Session shall be valid if a majority of the total number of Members of the Constitutional Court are present.
ART. 35 The call for a Session
Sessions of the Constitutional Court shall be called and presided over by the President of the Constitutional
Court.
In the absence of the President of the Constitutional Court and upon his/her instruction, a Session of the
Constitutional Court may be called by the Vice-President of the Constitutional Court.
ART. 36 Preparing the case for review
To prepare a case for review and to present the circumstances related to the case, the Constitutional Court
shall designate a Rapporteur (Rapporteurs) from among its Members.
In reviewing the appeal and preparing the case for review, a Member (Members) of the Constitutional Court,
with the knowledge of the President of the Constitutional Court, shall have the right to request documents,
findings and other material from state bodies, official persons, enterprises, institutions, organizations and
citizens; he/she (they) can instruct to undertake examinations, studies and research.
Invitees to a Session shall be determined by the President of the Constitutional Court and the Rapporteur
(Rapporteurs).
Three days prior to convening of a Session, unless other deadlines are foreseen by this Law, Members of the
Constitutional Court, the parties and in case of need and by a decision of the President of the Constitutional
Court the invitees are forwarded an announcement of the convening of the Session of the Constitutional
Court, copies of the appeal and documents obtained during the preliminary review of the case.
The announcement on the date and time of the Session of the Constitutional Court shall be forwarded to the
parties and invitees by the staff of the Constitutional Court.
ART. 37 The rights of a Member of the Constitutional Court
A Member of the Constitutional Court shall have the right:
1) to get acquainted with the materials relating to the case under review during the Session;
2) to ask questions and receive clarifications on the case under review during the Session;
3) to express his/her opinion on questions relating to the rules of order;
4) to make recommendations and motions.
ART. 38 The duties of a Member of the Constitutional Court
A Member of the Constitutional Court shall have the following duties:
1) to execute the instructions of the President of the Court for the preparation of a case under review;
2) to participate in the Sessions and the vote of the Court;
3) to preserve the confidentiality of the deliberations and the vote undertaken during closed door meetings;
4) to remain faithful to the Oath of the Member of the Constitutional Court.
ART. 39 Parties to the trial
When issues determined by Points 1 and 3-9 of Article 5 of this Law are being resolved, the following can be
parties in the Constitutional Court:
1) State bodies and persons who have the right to appeal to the Constitutional Court;
2) The state body or person who has adopted the act under review by the Constitutional Court;
3) The state organ, official, or political party the legitimacy of whose actions is being contested in the Constitutional
Court;
4) A Member of the Constitutional Court in cases brought under review on the basis of Point 8 of Article 5 of this Law.
ART. 40 Being named a defendant
If the state organs and individuals determined by Article 25 of this Law have not referred to the defendant or have
named the wrong defendant in their appeal to the Constitutional Court, the latter will name the defendant or the proper
defendant in the case in its decision to adopt the case.
ART. 41 Representation before the Court
Parties may appear before the Constitutional Court personally as well as through their representatives.
The head of the body appealing to the Constitutional Court, the head of the body having adopted the act in question, or
a deputy representing at least one-third of deputies may appear as a representative.
Any party may be presented by its representatives before the Constitutional Court.
A party before the Constitutional Court may have no more than three representatives.
ART. 42 Rights of the parties
The parties may:
1) get acquainted with the materials attached to the case, make extracts;
2) produce documents necessary for the review of the case;
3) present their own point of view on the case;
4) ask questions to a Member of the Court, the Rapporteur of the case, the other side, its representative, the expert,
and the witness;
5) make motions, proposals.
ART. 43 Duties of the parties
The parties must
1) attend the Constitutional Court Session by the latter's invitation;
2) give explanations and answer questions;
3) produce necessary documents, references, materials concerning the case by order of the Constitutional Court;
4) abide by the rules of the Constitutional Court set for the review of cases.
ART. 44 The procedures of a Session
At a fixed time after having been assured of the validity of the Session, the President shall declare so and announce
the case to be reviewed.
The President shall make sure of the presence of the parties and invitees and shall check the mandates of the
representatives of the parties, then shall table the question on starting the review of the case. It the Court considers it
impossible to start the review of the case, then a decision shall be made to postpone the review.
The President shall explain to the parties their rights and duties.
The review of a case at the Constitutional Court Session starts with the report of the Rapporteur. The Members of the
Constitutional Court and the parties may ask questions to the Rapporteur.
Following the report, the Constitutional Court shall hear the suggestions of the parties as to the rules of order of the
review of the case and shall reach a decision on this matter. The order of the review of a case decided by the
Constitutional Court may be subject to change. During the process of reviewing the case, proposals by Constitutional
Court Members regarding the order of examining materials shall be considered immediately.
ART. 45 Combining of cases under review by the Constitutional Court
Each case before the Constitutional Court shall be reviewed at a separate Session. Only cases referring to the same
issue may be combined and considered at the same Session by a decision of the Constitutional Court .
ART. 46 Minutes of the Constitutional Court
The minutes of the Sessions of the Constitutional Court shall be kept by the secretariat of the Court.
The minutes of the Session shall be signed by the Presiding Member and the secretary recording the minutes.
The parties may look through the minutes of the Session and introduce their remarks which are attached to the
minutes.
ART. 47 Explanations of the parties
The President shall ask the parties to provide explanations on the case under review and to present arguments proving
their point of view.
The Constitutional Court shall hear the explanations of the parties in full.
After the explanations of the parties, the Members of the Constitutional Court, the opposing party as well as experts (by
the permission of the Court) may ask questions to the presenting party.
The parties shall have no right to use their presentations to make political statements.
ART. 48 Experts' findings, rights and duties
A person possessing special knowledge in the issues of the case under review and not having any interest in the
outcome of the case may be invited as an expert at the Constitutional Court Session.
The President of the Constitutional Court shall warn the expert that he/she may be subject to legal prosecution for
obviously falsified findings or for refusing to present a finding.
The Constitutional Court shall decide the framework of problems requiring the experts' findings.
An expert may:
1) get acquainted with the case by the permission of the Constitutional Court;
2) ask questions to the parties and witnesses with the permission of the Constitutional Court;
3) request additional materials.
After having presented his/her conclusion, the expert must answer the questions of the Members of the Court and the
parties.
The written finding, bearing the signature of the expert, shall be transmitted to the Constitutional Court.
ART. 49 Explanations of witnesses
When necessary, the Constitutional Court shall invite to the Session as witnesses and hear the explanations of those
individuals who may be aware of any circumstances which may shed light on the case under review.
The witness shall be warned by the President of the Constitutional Court that making obviously false statements or
refusal to provide explanations are punishable by law.
The witness must tell all the circumstances known to him/her; he/she must answer the questions of the Members of the
Court and of the parties.
ART. 50 Accountability of the expert and witness
The presentation of obviously false findings or obviously false explanations or the refusal to provide findings or
explanations to the Constitutional Court is punishable by Law.
ART. 51 Resumption of the case under review
After the summation of the case by the parties, the Constitutional Court may decide to resume the review of the case,
should it consider necessary to discover further circumstances and evidence essential for the case.
The parties have the right to make concluding statements on the newly discovered aspects of the case following the
resumption of the review of the case.
After summation by the parties, the President of the Court shall declare the case under review closed.
ART. 52 Adopting decisions or conclusions for the case that are in effect
The Constitutional Court shall adopt a decision or conclusion on the case at a closed Session at which only Members
of the Constitutional Court are present.
A Member of the Constitutional Court may express his/her own point of view on the issues under discussion; he/she
may state his/her position regarding the conclusion of the case.
The number and duration of presentations at the Session shall not be restricted.
The results of the Session shall be recorded by a Member of the Court on the President's instructions.
The questions put to the vote and the results of the vote shall be registered for the record.
The record shall be signed by the Members of the Constitutional Court who have participated in the Session.
The results of the voting by name shall not be published.
The Session shall continue until the Court adopts a decision or a conclusion.
ART. 53 Dismissing a case
The Constitutional Court shall dismiss a case if:
1) during the Session grounds were discovered that could have caused the Court to reject the appeal under Article 53
of the present Law;
2) the act whose constitutionality is being questioned has been abrogated or has been invalidated before the review of
the case or during the process of being reviewed, and it has not been used.
ART. 54 Mandatory character of the demands of the Court
When performing duties under Article 5 of this Law 5, demands of the Court presented to State organs, legislative
bodies, institutions, organizations and citizens shall be mandatory.
The demands of the Constitutional Court shall be met within five days after their receipt, unless the Court has
designated a different deadline.
Refusing or avoiding implementation of the demands, missing deadlines, not meeting the demands or meeting them
inadequately shall be punishable by law.
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