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76 ZOR 309 (2021)
A Centenary of Constitutional Review: The Austrian Legacy to Constitutional Courts in Europe

handle is hein.journals/zorcht2021 and id is 324 raw text is: Zeitschrift fur 6ffentliches Recht 76, 309-312 (2021) https://doi.org/10.33196/zoer2O2102030901 Z6R 2021, 309 Editorial A Centenary of Constitutional Review: The Austrian Legacy to Constitutional Courts in Europe I. Amidst the Corona pandemic, the Austrian Federal Constitutional Act (Bundes-Ver- fassungsgesetz) has recently celebrated its centennial. Enacted on 1 October 1920, it is still in force today, albeit amended 129 times since its re-publication in 1930 and accom- panied by several hundred other legal acts of constitutional rank. Thus, it may definitely be counted among the older constitutions of the world and has, despite or perhaps even because of its flexibility, shown more resilience than many other constitutions. Substantively, the Austrian Federal Constitutional Act created an institution that has become the most important Austrian contribution to global constitutionalism and indeed a pillar of the constitutional architecture in many liberal democracies: this insti- tution is the Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof) which was established in 1920. Today, more than 100 constitutions across the world entrench such an institu- tion under the same or a similar name.1 Still, all these courts have their own individ- ual design in terms of organisation, functions, and procedures, and none of them resembles the Austrian Constitutional Court in full detail. It should also be recalled that judicial review had existed long before the Austrian Constitutional Act entered into force - first and foremost, under the older American model which, however, lacked both a specialized court and the power to formally remove laws erga omnes. Furthermore, the Austrian Constitutional Court already had forerunners in the Austrian past, namely in the Reichsgericht of 1867 and in the interim Constitutional Court (deutschosterreichischer Verfassungsgerichtshoj) of 1919 which had been a transitional predecessor of the Constitutional Court of 1920. However, nei- ther of these courts could claim full powers of judicial review, nor could the short- lived Czechoslovakian Constitutional Court, established earlier in 1920.2 The Aus- 1 See Anna Gamper, Constitutional Borrowing from Austria? Einfiisse des B-VG auf auslandische Ver- fassungen, Z6R 2020, 99 (112 ff). 2 See already Anna Gamper, Guest Editorial: 100 Years of the Austrian Federal Constitution and Constitutional Review: The Austrian Legacy to Constitutional Courts in Europe, <https://blog-iacl-aidc. org/100th-anniversary-of-the-austrian-constitutional-court/2020/10/1/guest-editorial-100-years-of-the- austrian-federal-constitution-and-constitutional-review-the-austrian-legacy-to-constitutional-courts-in- europe> (22.04.2021) and eadem (Fn 1) 110 ff. OVerlaq Osterreich 2021

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