Laeralian Constitutional Court

Laeralian Constitutional Court
Seal of Laeral
The Laeralian Constitutional Court building in Althea.
Jurisdiction	Laeral
Location	Althea
Composition method	Presidential nomination with National Assembly confirmation
Authorized by	Constitution of Laeral
Judge term length	Twelve years
Number of positions	12
Chief Justice of Laeral
Currently	Armand Royer
Since	2021
Lead position ends	2023
Jurist term ends	2023
Deputy Chief Justice of Laeral
Currently	Yu Wanli
Since	2021

The Laeralian Constitutional Court is the Laeralian supreme judicial body, charged with judicial review in Laeral's civil law system. It has the power to declare legislation unconstitutional, thus striking it from the statute. The court's jurisdiction is focused on the compliance of statues and executive branch actions with the Laeralian Constitution, particularly the irrevocable eternal clauses regarding the protection of human dignity and the equality of all citizens under the law.

Authority and Procedures

The Constitutional Court is separate from the regular judicial appeals process, yet cases may be referred to the Court by the president, by one-third of members of either house of the National Assembly, or by provincial governors or first ministers. At its own discretion, the Court may also take up cases brought by private citizens, although this requires two-thirds of justices to indicate that they wish to issue an opinion on the case.

The rulings of justices of the Constitutional Court are signed, and justices may produce dissenting or concurrent opinions. Cases are first reviewed by four-justice panels. Only if the four justices fail to concur in their decision is the case referred to the full Constitutional Court; roughly 70% of cases are thus ruled upon without necessitating the entire Court. The relatively low bar for a case to be taken up by the Constitutional Court has led to the proliferation of frivolous referrals by opposition lawmakers or provincial executives; most controversial laws are referred to the Court, although many such referrals with little legal basis are rejected summarily by the judicial panels.

Members

The twelve justices of the Constitutional Court are nominated by the president for fixed twelve-year terms, and may not be reappointed. Constitutional Court nominees require approval by a three-fifths majority of the General Assembly or the Assembly of Commons. In August of every odd-numbered year, the president names one nominee to each house of the National Assembly for approval.

Current Members

Justice	Confirmation	Appointment Year	Appointing President
Armand Royer	General Assembly	2011	Nicholas Brennan
Yu Wanli	Assembly of Commons	2011	Nicholas Brennan
Taupiac	General Assembly	2013	Nicholas Brennan
Le Foll	Assembly of Commons	2013	Nicholas Brennan
Peng	General Assembly	2015	Nicholas Brennan
Guo	Assembly of Commons	2015	Nicholas Brennan
Hossain	General Assembly	2017	Nicholas Brennan
Chalas	Assembly of Commons	2017	Nicholas Brennan
Dubost	General Assembly	2019	Liu Mei-han
Zhang	Assembly of Commons	2019	Liu Mei-han
	General Assembly	2021	Liu Mei-han
	Assembly of Commons	2021	Liu Mei-han