A bill amending the law on the Constitutional Court, initiated by the President of Kyrgyzstan, has been submitted to the Zhogorku Kenesh.
According to the explanatory note, the changes are needed for the «institutional modernization» of constitutional proceedings and to strengthen public trust in court decisions.
One of the key changes will be a new procedure for reviewing appeals.
Currently, complaints and appeals are preliminarily reviewed by panels of three judges. The president proposes abandoning this system so that every appeal will now be considered by the full composition of the Constitutional Court.
The judge who will prepare the case for review will be appointed by the Chairman of the Constitutional Court.
A decision to accept or reject an appeal must be made by a majority vote of judges within 30 days after the application is registered. If the votes are split equally, the deciding vote will belong to the presiding judge.
The proposal also seeks to abolish the possibility of appealing the Constitutional Court’s refusal to accept a case for consideration.
Another innovation is the transition of part of the court’s work to an electronic format. The draft law provides for the possibility of filing appeals, preparing cases, and conducting hearings online.
In addition, it is proposed to extend the time limit for preparing the reasoning part of Constitutional Court decisions from 10 to 30 days.
The timeframe for issuing decisions on a number of important matters is also proposed to be extended from two to three months, including:
— interpretation of the Constitution;
— disputes between branches of government;
— review of international treaties;
— opinions on constitutional amendments;
— court requests.
A separate provision proposes accelerating the adoption of laws stemming from Constitutional Court decisions. Such draft laws could be considered without public discussion, on an expedited basis, and in all three readings at once.
