If a party does not appear at the oral-argument hearing, what must the Constitutional Court do, and what may it do if that party fails to appear again on the new date?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the practice material of this kind, we read the written decision fixing the oral-argument hearing date and the proof that it was served on the party, so that the first absence is established. The record of the newly set date matters here, because the provision turns on a second absence at that hearing.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading follows the sequence the provision sets: where a party does not appear at the oral-argument hearing, the court must set a hearing again, and only where that party also fails to appear at the newly set hearing may the court conduct the hearing without the party's presence.
Another reading notes what the provision does not settle: the word for what the court may do at the second absence is 'may', not 'must', so a hearing in the party's absence is permitted rather than required, and the provision says nothing about a reason for the absence, such as illness.
Your judgment
If a party has already failed to appear once, how could the file show that notice of the newly set hearing date was served on that party before the second absence?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to change what follows a first or a second absence, or if a Constitutional Court decision explains when a hearing may properly be held without the party present.