The Rise and Fall of the Constitutional Tribunal in Austria (1919–1933)
Keywords:
Austria, Constitutional Tribunal, Austrian constitution, Hans Kelsen, he Reich Court (Reichsgericht)Abstract
The establishment of the Constitutional Tribunal in Austria was the result of the constitutional evolution that took place in the Habsburg Monarchy in the second half of the 19th century and the change in the form of the state after the end of World War I. The forerunner of the Constitutional Tribunal was the Reich Court (Reichsgericht), which ruled on cases of violations of citizens’ constitutional rights. However, it was not until the Constitutional Tribunal was established at the beginning of 1919 that it was possible to assess the conformity of laws with the constitution.
The constitutional position of the Constitutional Tribunal was strengthened in the constitution of 1920. The main author of the constitution, as well as of the act establishing the Constitutional Tribunal, was Hans Kelsen. It should therefore come as no surprise that the Austrian Constitutional Tribunal reflected Kelsen’s model of the constitutional review of law from the very beginning of its existence. Dueto Hans Kelsen’s involvement, the constitutional court began its operations, which became a model solution for European states after World War II.
However, at the beginning of the 1930s, due to the dismantling of the democratic structures of the state, the Constitutional Tribunal came to an end in Austria. The article discusses the factors determining the establishment of the Constitutional Tribunal, its position in the constitution of 1920, the changes that took place in the constitutional regulation in the first ten years of the constitution’s validity, and the circumstances that contributed to the decline of the constitutional judiciary in the interwar Austria. The author analyses the evolution of the constitutional provisions defining the constitutional position of the Constitutional Tribunal against the background of the main directions of changes in the political system.
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