Chambers Judiciary Committee

Chambers Judiciary Committee
Established	18 February 2024
Jurisdiction	Ebenthal
Location	Brauncastel, Ebenthal.
Composition	Appointed by the Monarch
Authorized by	Constitution of Ebenthal
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Seats	7 (currently)
Lord President of the House of Aristocrats

The Chambers Judiciary Committee (Portuguese: Comitê Judiciário das Câmaras) is a permanent committee of the Konkrëse, tasked with dealing with all civil and criminal cases, and in doing so, acting as de facto the constitutional, supreme and only court of the Kingdom of Ebenthal for all civil and criminal cases. Its rullings cannot be appealed and it cannot overturn any legislation made by the Konkrëse unless that legislation is found to be ultra vires. In criminal and administrative law, Ebenthal uses an inquisitorial system where the judges are actively involved in investigating the facts of the case, as compared to an adversarial system where the role of the judge is primarily that of an impartial referee between the prosecutor or plaintiff and the defendant. The Committee is made up of a representative from each party sitting in the House of Councillors, plus the same number of members from the House of Aristocrats, all appointed by the Sovereign and always headed by the Lord President of the House of Aristocrats. Member of the Committee does not enjoy of judiciary autonomy and verdicts can only be granted upon approval by a simple majority.

The main task of the Committee is judicial review, and it may declare legislation unconstitutional, thus rendering them ineffective. In this respect, it is similar to other supreme courts with judicial review powers, but it is much more limited in its powers of judicial review than the constitutional or supreme courts of some other countries due to its inability to overturn primary legislation.

Modus operandi

In non-constitutional proceedings, after the primary verdict is given, one can appeal for judicial review. In this case, the Lord President presides over a new hearing made up of members of the House of Aristocrats and members of the House of Councilors of his choice who did not participate in the first trial hearing. This process can be repeated once more, if necessary, until a final verdict is given and a sentence is determined, with no further appeal possible.

In constitutional proceedings, the Sovereign exclusively appoints members of the parliamentary chambers to participate in the committee hearings. In order to declare legislation unconstitutional, the committee must evaluate the process in three instances, each made up of different members of the parliamentary chambers. If there are not enough members so that members are not repeated in hearings, the rule is established that the same member cannot participate in two hearings in a row. If the process is an inquiry established by the Prosecutor-General of the Crown, the Sovereign presides over the hearing, replacing the Lord President.

See also

• Criminal Code of Ebenthal