Austrian Constitutional Court

The Constitutional Court of Austria, the Verfassungsgerichtshof, was established in 1920 as part of the new republican constitution largely designed by the legal theorist Hans Kelsen, who himself served as a member of the court in its early years. Its predecessor, the Imperial Court, had existed since 1867 but lacked any power of judicial review. The 1920 court was the first centralized constitutional court in the world, reviewing the constitutionality of statutes and the legality of ordinances rather than leaving that task to the ordinary judiciary as decentralized systems do, and this Kelsenian model went on to shape constitutional court design across much of Europe and beyond. Beyond judicial review, the court resolves demarcation disputes between organs of government, hears complaints about elections, and handles impeachment proceedings. It is composed of fourteen members and six substitute members, appointed through a tripartite process involving the federal president, the National Council and the Federal Council that reflects Austria's federal structure.