When a case is referred to the Constitutional Court, what may its unconstitutionality decision cover, and when may it reach the whole law?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In the exercise file we read the referring court's referral decision, to see exactly which law or provision of a law was put to the Constitutional Court. We then read the text of the whole law, to see how far the remaining provisions depend on the one referred.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the first sentence at its word: the Constitutional Court decides only the question of unconstitutionality of the law or the provision of a law that has been referred to it, and its decision reaches no further. Only where declaring a provision unconstitutional means the whole of that law cannot be implemented does the proviso let it declare the whole law unconstitutional.
Another reading stresses that the proviso is not automatic: where that consequence is 'acknowledged', the Court 'may' declare the whole law unconstitutional. The provision does not say who acknowledges it or what showing establishes it, so how tight the link between the fallen provision and the rest of the law must be is left open.
Your judgment
Once the referred provision has been held unconstitutional, what in the file shows that the rest of the law cannot be implemented at all?
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 when a whole-law declaration is available, or if a Constitutional Court decision explains what counts as the law being impossible to implement.