Quotes about Constitutional Court

F. W. de Klerk

The ANC party from time to time comes with legislation which, if accepted and if not nullified by the constitution of court, would have the effect of undermining the constitution and eroding its values.

Potter Stewart

I think that the Court's task, in this as in all areas of constitutional adjudication, is not responsibly aided by the uncritical invocation of metaphors like the ' wall of separation,' a phrase nowhere to be found in the Constitution.

Sylvere Nimpagaritse

If we did not give the third term a green light, we were going to be in for trouble. We had convened earlier on April 30, as judges of the constitutional court to look at the provisions of the law, the Constitution and the Arusha Peace Accord to ascertain if indeed Nkurunziza was eligible to stand for another term in office and we found that he did not qualify for one. We went home with a plan of returning the next day to sign the decision, but that same evening all judges started receiving threatening phone calls. On May 1, feeling threatened, the judges decided to sign a document clearing Nkurunziza to seek another term

The strongman president, barred from a 3rd 5 year term by the Burundi Constitution, came up with an absurd argument as to why the limit should not apply to him. When the Supreme Court would not go along with the scheme, he threatened them and finally they all reversed their previous opinion and voted to allow it—all except for Nimpagaritse who did not sign the reversal, but was no longer safe. Although the President tried to arrest him, he escaped over the border and went inti exile.

Imran Tahir

South Africa is now my country.

Alexander Hamilton

A well-constituted court for the trial of impeachments is an object not more to be desired than difficult to be obtained in a government wholly elective.

Hamilton pointed out that there is always a philosophical conflict between impeachment of an elected official and the right of the people to choose their own representatives. Both have very important and noble reasons supporting them. The founding fathers compromised by allowing impeachment, but making it very difficult.

Carles Puigdemont

In 2010, the Spanish constitutional court annulled a large part of the Catalan statute of autonomy negotiated between Catalonia and the previous prime minister, Jose Luis Zapatero. This demolished one of the main agreements achieved during the Spanish transition to democracy - Catalonia's recovery of self-governance.

Vladimir Putin

It is well known that homosexuality is a criminal offense in the United States, in four US states. If it is good or bad, we know the decision of the Constitutional Court, but this problem has not been dealt with yet, it is still being addressed by the legislation of the United States. This is not the case in Russia.

Constitutional Court Quotes