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Law vocabulary · Courts & Judges

Constitutional court

Meaning in law, with examples

nounCommon term

In law, constitutional court means: A special court that decides whether laws and state actions comply with the constitution and, in many countries, hears individual complaints about rights violations.

In Turkish: Anayasa Mahkemesi

How it is used

Typical of continental European systems such as Germany, Italy, Spain and Turkey. Laws may be 'challenged before' the constitutional court, which can 'annul' or 'strike down' them. The US and the UK have no separate constitutional court; in the US the Supreme Court decides constitutional questions.

Example sentences

  1. A group of members of parliament asked the constitutional court to review the new law.

  2. The applicant lodged an individual application with the Constitutional Court after exhausting all other remedies.

Common collocations

  • apply to the constitutional court
  • constitutional court ruling
  • individual application
  • annul a law
  • constitutionThe basic set of laws and principles that sets up a state, organises its powers and protects the fundamental rights of its people.
  • supreme courtThe highest court in a country or state, whose decisions on legal questions usually bind lower courts and cannot be appealed any further.
  • judicial reviewThe power of courts to check whether decisions or laws made by public authorities are lawful, and to cancel them if they are not.
  • human rightsThe basic rights and freedoms that every person has simply because they are human, such as the right to life, to a fair trial and to freedom of expression.
  • courtA place or institution where judges hear legal disputes and decide them according to the law; the word can also mean the judges themselves.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Courts & Judges

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not legal advice.