SEARCH DATABASE
The Global Gender Equality Constitutional Database is a repository of gender equality related provisions in 194 constitutions from around the world. The Database was updated in partnership with the International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) and with support from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Government of Japan. Experience its wealth and depth of information by starting your search now.
Jurisdiction and Access
- English(1) Where any question as to the interpretation of this Constitution arises in any court of law established for Saint Christopher and Nevis (other than the Court of Appeal, the High Court or a court-martial) and the court is of the opinion that the question involves a substantial question of law, the court may, and shall if any party to the proceedings so requests, refer the question to the High Court.
… (Sec. 97)
Jurisdiction and Access
- EnglishIf the High Court is satisfied that a case pending in a court subordinate to it involves a substantial question of law as to the interpretation of this Constitution the determination of which is necessary for the disposal of the case, it shall withdraw the case and may—
(a) either dispose of the case itself, or
(b) determine the said question of law and return the case to the court from which the case has been so withdrawn together with a copy of its judgment on such question, and the said court shall on receipt thereof proceed to dispose of the case in conformity with such judgment. (Art. 228) - Hindiयदि उच्च न्यायालय का यह समाधान हो जाता है कि उसके अधीनस्थ किसी न्यायालय में लंबित किसी मामले में इस संविधान के निर्वचन के बारे में विधि का कोई सारवान प्रश्न अंतर्वलित है जिसका अवधारण मामले के निपटारे के लिए आवश्यक है तो वह उस मामले को अपने पास मंगा लेगा और—
(क) मामले को स्वयं निपटा सकेगा, या
(ख) उक्त विधि के प्रश्न का अवधारण कर सकेगा और उस मामले को ऐसे प्रश्न पर निर्णय की प्रतिलिपि सहित उस न्यायालय को, जिससे मामला इस प्रकार मंगा लिया गया है, लौटा सकेगा और उक्त न्यायालय उसके प्राप्त होने पर उस मामले को ऐसे निर्णय के अनुरूप निपटाने के लिए आगे कार्यवाही करेगा। (अनुच्छेद 228)
Jurisdiction and Access
- English1. The Constitutional Court may consider and declare with generally binding force:
a) The unconstitutionality of any norm;
b) The illegality of any norms contained in a legislative act, on the grounds of the breach of a law with superior legal force;
c) The illegality of any norms contained in a regional legislative act, on the grounds of the breach of the autonomous region's statute;
d) The illegality of any norms contained in a legislative act issued by an entity that exercises sovereignty, on the grounds of a breach of those of an autonomous region's rights that are enshrined in its statute.
2. The following may ask the Constitutional Court for a declaration of unconstitutionality or illegality with generally binding force:
a) The President of the Republic;
b) The President of the Assembly of the Republic;
c) The Prime Minister;
d) The Ombudsman;
e) The Attorney General;
f) One tenth of the Members of the Assembly of the Republic;
g) When the grounds for the request for a declaration of unconstitutionality are the breach of the rights of the autonomous regions, or the grounds for the request for a declaration of illegality are the breach of the respective statute, Representatives of the Republic, Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions, presidents of Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions, presidents of Regional Governments, or one tenth of the members of the respective Legislative Assembly.
3. The Constitutional Court may also consider and declare with generally binding force the unconstitutionality or illegality of any norm, on condition that it has already held the norm unconstitutional or illegal in three concrete cases. (Art. 281) - Portuguese1. O Tribunal Constitucional aprecia e declara, com força obrigatória geral:
a) A inconstitucionalidade de quaisquer normas;
b) A ilegalidade de quaisquer normas constantes de acto legislativo com fundamento em violação de lei com valor reforçado;
c) A ilegalidade de quaisquer normas constantes de diploma regional, com fundamento em violação do estatuto da região autónoma;
d) A ilegalidade de quaisquer normas constantes de diploma emanado dos órgãos de soberania com fundamento em violação dos direitos de uma região consagrados no seu estatuto.
2. Podem requerer ao Tribunal Constitucional a declaração de inconstitucionalidade ou de ilegalidade, com força obrigatória geral:
a) O Presidente da República;
b) O Presidente da Assembleia da República;
c) O Primeiro-Ministro;
d) O Provedor de Justiça;
e) O Procurador-Geral da República;
f) Um décimo dos Deputados à Assembleia da República;
g) Os Representantes da República, as Assembleias Legislativas das regiões autónomas, os presidentes das Assembleias Legislativas das regiões autónomas, os presidentes dos Governos Regionais ou um décimo dos deputados à respectiva Assembleia Legislativa, quando o pedido de declaração de inconstitucionalidade se fundar em violação dos direitos das regiões autónomas ou o pedido de declaração de ilegalidade se fundar em violação do respectivo estatuto.
3. O Tribunal Constitucional aprecia e declara ainda, com força obrigatória geral, a inconstitucionalidade ou a ilegalidade de qualquer norma, desde que tenha sido por ele julgada inconstitucional ou ilegal em três casos concretos. (Art. 281)
Jurisdiction and Access
- English(1) Where any question as to the interpretation or application of this Constitution arises in any proceedings in any court of law in any part of Nigeria (other than in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the Federal High Court or the National Industrial Court or a High Court) and the court is of the opinion that the question involves a substantial question of law, the court may, and shall if any of the parties to the proceedings so requests, refer the question to the Federal High Court or the National Industrial Court or a High Court having jurisdiction in that part of Nigeria and the Federal High Court or the National Industrial Court or the High Court shall
(a) if it is of opinion that the question involves a substantial question of law, refer the question to the Court of Appeal; or
(b) if it is of opinion that the question does not involve a substantial question of law, remit the question to the court that made the reference to be disposed of in accordance with such directions as the Federal High Court or the National Industrial Court or the High Court may think fit to give.
(2) Where any question as to the interpretation or application of this constitution arises in any proceedings in the Federal High Court or the National Industrial Court or a High Court, and the court is of opinion that the question involves a substantial question of law, the court may, and shall if any party to the proceedings so requests, refer the question to the Court of Appeal; and where any question is referred in pursuance of this subsection, the court shall give its decision upon the question and the court in which the question arose shall dispose of the case in accordance with that decision.
(3) Where any question as to the interpretation or application of this constitution arises in any proceedings in the Court of Appeal and the court is of opinion that the question involves a substantial question of law, the court may, and shall if any party to the proceedings so requests, refer the question to the Supreme Court which shall give its decision upon the question and give such directions to the Court of Appeal as it deems appropriate. (Sec. 295)
Jurisdiction and Access
- EnglishThe Supreme Court of Justice has original and exclusive jurisdiction in the hearing and decision of such matters; and must render its decision in accordance with the requirement for final decisions. (Art. 257)
- SpanishA la Suprema Corte de Justicia le compete el conocimiento y la resolución originaria y exclusiva en la materia; y deberá pronunciarse con los requisitos de las sentencias definitivas. (Art. 257)
Jurisdiction and Access
- English
The National Assembly Standing Committee has the following rights and duties:
…
2. To create, interpret and explain the provisions of the Constitution and the laws;
… (Art. 56) - Lao
ຄະນະປະຈໍາສະພາແຫ່ງຊາດມີ ສິດ ແລະ ໜ້າທີ່ດັ່ງນີ້:
…
2. ສະເໜີສ້າງ, ຕີຄວາມໝາຍ, ອະທິບາຍ ລັດຖະທໍາມະນູນ ແລະ ກົດໝາຍ
… (ມາດຕາ. 56) (ປັບປຸງ)
Jurisdiction and Access
- English
(1) The Constitutional Court shall decide on complaints of the bodies of territorial self-administration against unconstitutional or unlawful decision or against other unconstitutional or unlawful action into the matters of self-administration, save another court shall decide on its protection.
… (Art. 127a) - Slovak
(1) Ústavný súd rozhoduje o sťaţnostiach orgánov územnej samosprávy proti neústavnému alebo nezákonnému rozhodnutiu alebo inému neústavnému alebo nezákonnému zásahu do vecí územnej samosprávy, ak o jej ochrane nerozhoduje iný súd.
… (Čl. 127a)
Jurisdiction and Access
- English(1) After the Shari’ah, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia is the supreme law of the country. It binds the government and guides policy initiatives and decisions in all sections of government.
(2) Any law, or administrative action that is contrary to the Constitution may be invalidated by the Constitutional Court, which has the authority to do so in accordance with this Constitution. (Art. 4) - Somali(1) Shareecada ka sokow, Dastuurka Soomaaliya waa sharciga dalka ugu sarreeya, isaga ayayna xukuumaddu u hoggaansamaysaa, wuxuuna hagayaa hal-abuurka iyo go’aannada siyaasadeed ee qaybaha Dawladda oo dhan.
(2) Sharci kasta ama tallaabo maamul oo ka soo horjeedda Dastuurka, maxkamadda Dastuuriga ah ayaa awood u leh burrinta sharcigaas ama tallaabadaas maamul, si waafaqsan Dastuurkan. (Qodobka 4aad.)
Jurisdiction and Access
- English
…
11. The Supreme Court shall be the guardian of this Constitution and the final authority on its interpretation.
… (Art. 1) - Dzongkha
…
༡༡) མངོན་མཐོ་ཁྲིམས་འདུན་འདི་ རྩ་ཁྲིམས་ཆེན་མོ་འདིའི་གཞི་འཛིན་དང་ དེའི་དོན་འགྲེལ་ མཐའ་གཅོད་ཀྱི་དབང་འཛིན་ཨིན།
... ༼རྩ་ཚན་༡༽
Jurisdiction and Access
- English
(1) There shall be a Constitutional Bench in the Supreme Court. The Constitutional Bench shall consist of the Chief Justice and other four Justices designated by the Chief Justice on recommendation of the Judicial Council.
(2) The Bench referred to in clause (1) shall originally hear and settle the following cases, in addition to the petitions filed pursuant to clause (1) of Article 133:-
(a) Disputes relating to jurisdiction between the Federation and a Province, between Provinces, between a Province and a Local Level and between Local Levels;
(b) Disputes relating to election to members of the Federal Parliament or Provincial Assembly and matters relating to disqualification of a member of the Federal Parliament or of the Provincial Assembly.
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in Article 133, in case it appears that any case sub judice in the Supreme Court involves a question of serious constitutional interpretation, the Chief Justice may appoint such case to be heard by the Bench referred to in clause (1).
(4) Other provisions relating to the functioning of the Constitutional Bench shall be as determined by the Supreme Court. (Art. 137) - Nepali
(१) सर्वोच्च अदालतमा एक संवैधानिक इजलास रहनेछ । त्यस्तो इजलासमा प्रधान न्यायाधीश र न्याय परिषदको सिफारिसमा प्रधान न्यायाधीशले तोकेका अन्य चारजना न्यायाधीश रहने छन् ।
(२) उपधारा (१) बमोजिमको इजलासले धारा १३३ को उपधारा (१) बमोजिम परेका निवेदनको अतिरिक्त देहायका मुद्दाको शुरू कारबाही र किनारा गर्नेछ ः–
(क) संघ र प्रदेश, प्रदेश र प्रदेश, प्रदेश र स्थानीय तह तथा स्थानीय तहहरू बीचको अधिकार क्षेत्रको बारेमा भएको विवाद सम्बन्धी,
(ख) संघीय संसद वा प्रदेश सभा सदस्यको निर्वाचन सम्बन्धी विवाद र संघीय संसदका सदस्य वा प्रदेश सभाका सदस्यको अयोग्यता सम्बन्धी ।
(३) धारा १३३ मा जुनसुकै कुरा लेखिएको भए तापनि सर्वोच्च अदालतमा विचाराधीन कुनै मुद्दामा गम्भीर संवैधानिक व्याख्याको प्रश्न समावेश भएको देखिएमा त्यस्तो मुद्दा उपधारा (१) बमोजिमको इजलासबाट हेर्ने गरी प्रधान न्यायाधीशले तोक्न सक्नेछ ।
(४) संवैधानिक इजलासको सञ्चालन सम्बन्धी अन्य व्यवस्था सर्वोच्च अदालतले निर्धारण गरे बमोजिम हुनेछ । (धारा १३७)