The Constitutional Courts of Small Jurisdictions

Book excerpt: The Constitutional Courts of Small Jurisdictions identifies features and challenges common to the constitutional courts of small state jurisdictions in Europe. The constitutional courts of the following small state jurisdictions are explored: Andorra, Cyprus, Estonia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, and San Marino. For each country’s constitutional court, the following matters are examined: the history of the court; its composition; its standing and the types of proceedings; jurisdiction of the court; procedural steps and rules; the nature and effect of the decisions rendered; relations with other courts (CJEU, ECHR, etc.); and current issues and future developments. The book concludes by identifying some common features and challenges that constitutional courts of small states are confronted with, formulating recommendations for other small state jurisdictions across the world. This book will be of great interest and use to practitioners and scholars working in and researching constitutional law in general, and constitutional courts in particular. It will be invaluable for those dealing with small states, as it pays attention to an often forgotten - but important - aspect of the rule of law, and thus also of democracy.