The Thuringian Constitutional Court (short: ThürVerfGH) is the state constitutional court of the Free State of Thuringia. The court is located in Weimar at Jenaer Straße 2a, and oral hearings take place at Gutenbergstraße 29a.
The Thuringian Constitutional Court (short: ThürVerfGH) is the state constitutional court of the Free State of Thuringia. The court is located in Weimar at Jenaer Straße 2a, and oral hearings take place at Gutenbergstraße 29a.
The Constitution of the Free State of Thuringia of October 25, 1993, provided for a Constitutional Court. The Thuringian State Parliament passed the Law on the Thuringian Constitutional Court on June 28, 1994, thereby determining the seat of the Constitutional Court to be in Weimar. It began its work about a year later, on September 13, 1995. In March 2018, the President of the Constitutional Court, Manfred Aschke, left office upon reaching the age limit. However, the parliamentary groups in the Thuringian state parliament were unable to agree on a successor. The latter must be elected by the state parliament with a two-thirds majority. The government factions favored constitutional judge Elke Heßelmann, while the CDU faction favored constitutional judge Klaus-Dieter von der Weiden. The state parliament therefore failed to hold the election on time in accordance with Section 3 Paragraph 3 Clause 3 of the Thuringian Constitutional Court Act. As a result, the position of president was vacant until further notice and the court only had a temporary quorum. The court had already determined during a brief vacancy in 2010 that the court could only have a temporary quorum. During the vacancy, the CDU favorite Klaus-Dieter von der Weiden represented the office of president. In May 2018, it was announced that CDU parliamentary group leader Mike Mohring was considering Stefan Kaufmann, President of the Thuringian Higher Regional Court, as a compromise candidate. However, there was a risk that no new president would be elected before the summer break and that the court would therefore lose its ability to act. Most recently, the Left Party also decided to support Kaufmann. The election proposal was finally supported by Alliance 90/The Greens and the SPD. With Kaufmann's departure, the presidency became vacant again because a successor was not elected within the deadline.
In 2021/2022 the vacancy was repeated and Klaus von der Weiden again headed the Court. In the summer of 2022, the Thuringian legislature amended the Constitutional Court Act and introduced the office of Vice President of the Court.
Articles 79 and 80 of the Constitution of Thuringia regulate the position, composition and jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court. These regulations are further defined in the Law on the Thuringian Constitutional Court. The working methods of the Court are regulated in the Rules of Procedure of the Thuringian Constitutional Court.
Until 2014, the president and the eight other members of the court were elected by the Thuringian Landtag with a two-thirds majority for five years. In 2014, the term of office was increased to seven years, with only one re-election possible. This reduced the maximum term of office to 14 years. However, a transitional regulation allowed judges who had already been elected as constitutional judges several times to be elected as constitutional judges again. This enabled the re-election of judges Manfred Baldus, Walter Bayer and Hartmut Schwan. The president and two other members must be professional judges, and three other members must be qualified to hold judicial office. The court is made up primarily of lawyers.
The court decides on
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