Supreme Court (Istalia)

The Supreme Court of the Istalian Republic (Istalian: Corte Suprema della Repubblica Istaliana) is the highest court of Istalia in matters of constitutional law. Sometimes, the name Le Gilde (The Guilds in Luthorian) is used as a metonym for it, because its sessions are held in the historic Palazzo delle Gilde (Palace of Guilds in Luthorian) in Romula.

The Court was established by the first republican Constitution of Istalia in 2263 with the name Constitutional Court but then, when was founded the fourth Republic, it was re-created with the current name but with the same powers.

Powers
The Supreme Court is tasked to judge on the Constitutionality of the laws enacted by the Parliament as well as the regulations and local laws enacted by the local authorities. So, its main authority is to rule on whether laws that are challenged are in fact unconstitutional, i.e. whether they conflict with constitutionally established rules, rights and freedoms. It judges also on conflicts arising from allocation of powers of the State and those powers allocated to State and Regions, and between Regions; charges brought against the President and the Ministers, including the Head of Government. When the Court declares a law unconstitutional, the law ceases to have effect the day after the publication of the ruling.

Composition
The Supreme Court, selon the most recent reform of this institution, is composed of 15 judges for the term of service of seven years: 5 appointed by the President, 5 elected by the Chamber of Deputies and 5 elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts. The judges appointed by the President and elected by the Chamber of Deputies shall be always confirmed by the Senate which have to approve them with a 2/3 majority. Candidates need to be either lawyers with twenty years or more experience, full professors of law, or (former) judges of the Supreme Administrative, Civil and Criminal tribunals and are elegible only judges with an age between 55 and 79 years. The President of the Supreme Court is formally the President of the Republic which chair cerimonially the Court. The deputy President of the Supreme Court, which is the veritable chairman of the Court, is elected from among the 5 judges elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts in a secret ballot, by an absolute majority (8 votes in the case of a full court). If no person gets a majority, a runoff election between the two judges with the most votes occurs. The Deputy President of the Court appoints one or more vice-presidents to stand in for him in the event of his absence for any reason.