The
Principality of Andorra is a democratic and constitutional welfare state,
preserving the structure of the Co-Principality, which came into being
with the signing of the « Paréages » in 1278 and 1288 (see
History).
The Andorran State is a parliamentary Co-Principality
(art. 1 of the Constitution).
1) The Head of
State
Monseigneur Joan Enric
Vives Bishop of Urgell
Mr Nicolas Sarkozy President of the French
Republic
The two Co-Princes of Andorra are jointly and indivisibly the
Head of State.
At this time this office is held jointly by
:
Monseigneur Joan Enric Vives, Bishop of Urgell (a
region of Catalonia in Spain) Monsieur Nicolas Sarkozy, President
of the French Republic.
Their role consists essentially in
guaranteeing respect for the Constitution, to which they swear or promise
to be faithful (art. 44-2). (http://www.govern.ad/)
In this
way they serve as arbiters of the actions of the public authorities and
moderate, where necessary, the activities of the institutions. They call
general elections at the request of the Head of Government and appoint the
Head of Government, acting on the proposal of Parliament. The two
Co-Princes also accredit the diplomatic representatives of Andorra abroad
and receive the accreditation of foreign representatives in
Andorra. They appoint one representative each to the Constitutional
Tribunal and the Superior Council of Justice.
Each Co-Prince
appoints a personal representative in Andorra who must keep them informed
about issues involving the Principality.
2)
The General Council (http://www.consell.ad/) (Title IV, Articles 50 to 71 of
the Constitution)
The General Council exercises legislative power, approves
the budgets of the State, encourages and controls the political action of
the Government. At the present time it consists of 28 councillors
elected for a period of 4 years. Half the councillors are elected in
local elections, each of the 7 parishes (see Geography) being represented
by 2 councillors, while the other half are elected in national
elections.
The elected members of Parliament appoint from their
midst the «Síndic» - the Speaker of the Parliament (Consell) - and the
Assistant Síndic - the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament (Consell) - who,
with two secretaries elected from the members of the Consell, constitute
the Bureau of the Parliament.
The current Speaker of the Parliament
(Consell) is Mr. Joan GABRIEL ESTRANY and the Deputy Speaker is Mrs.
Bernadeta GASPĀ BRINGUERET.
Since the approval of the Constitution the
decrees issued by the General Council are uniquely referred to as
laws.
The most recent general elections, in which 82.8% of the
voters went to the polls, were held on the 24th April 2005.
The
political parties currently represented in Parliament are :
Liberal Party
Social Democrat Party
Democrat Andorran Centre
Century 21 (Segle 21)
Renovaciķ Democrātica (Democratic Renovation)
The
General Council has eight Standing Committees in charge of
:
Interior policy, foreign policy, the economy, finances and the
budget, territorial policy and urban affairs, health and the environment,
social affairs, education - research - culture and sport. There is a
special Committee for justice and an ad hoc Committee for foreign
affairs.
Address of the General Council :
Consell
General Casa de la Vall Andorra la Vella Tel. : (00 376) 821
234 Fax: (00 376) 861 234 E-mail: mailto:conseil.general@andorra.ad Office
Hours: 8:30 to 13:30 and 15:00 to 17:00
3) The
Government (http://www.govern.ad/) (Title V of the Constitution,
Articles 72 to 78 of the Constitution)
M. Albert PINTAT SANTOLĀRIA Head of
Government
Mrs.
Meritxell MATEU PI Minister of Foreign
Affairs
The Head of Government is elected by the General
Council.
Mr Albert PINTAT SANTOLĀRIA is currently Head of the Andorran
Government.
The Government directs the national and international
policies of Andorra, administrates the State and has the power to issue
decrees. The Andorran Government consists of the Head of Government and
the Ministers in charge of nine Ministries :
Ministry
of Economy and Agriculture
Minister : Mr Joel FONT COMA
Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, Youth and Sports:
Minister : Mrs Roser Bastida Areny
The Andorran Government annually draws up
the general budget and submits it to the General Council.
Andorra is divided
administratively into seven parishes : Canillo, Encamp, Ordino, La
Massana, Andorra la Vella, Sant Julià de Lòria and
Escaldes-Engordany.
The « Comuns » are the bodies representing
and administrating the parishes, approving and executing the municipal
budgets, determining and carrying out their public policies, managing and
administrating all the municipal assets. They receive capital transfers
fom the general budget of the State to ensure their financial
autonomy.
B-
Operation of the justice system in the Principality of Andorra
Titles
VII and VIII of the Constitution of the Principality of Andorra concern
the justice system and the Constitutional Court respectively. They are
supplemented by the qualified Law on the Constitutional Court and the
qualified Law on Justice of 3 September 1993.
The Constitution is the supreme legal standard. It links all of the
batlles (judges), magistrates and courts, which will interpret and apply
the laws in compliance with the principles of the Constitution.
The
faculty of jurisdiction is exercised by the batlles, the Court of
Batlles, the Court of Corts and the Superior Court of justice of
Andorra. In the exercise of their faculty of jurisdiction, the batlles
and magistrates are independent of all of the judicial organs and of the
Superior Council of Justice.
Article
85 of the Constitution therefore sets out the structure, the composition
and the operation of the judicial authorities, which will be regulated
by the qualified Law on Justice.
C-
Judicial organs
The
task of the judicial organs is to subject all the public authorities to
respect for the law, to check the legality of action by the public
service, and to offer all citizens effective protection in the exercise
of their rights and in the defence of their legitimate interests.
The
Andorran judicial system is made up of:
The
Batllia of Andorra (First Instance)
The
Superior Council of Justice
The
Court of Corts ( Court of Appeal and Assize Court)
The
Superior Court of Justice
The
Public Prosecutor's Office
The
Constitutional Court
Batllia
of Andorra (the batlles as a single-person court and the Court of
Batlles)
This
is a unique first instance competent for dealing with civil, criminal
and administrative cases.
It
is made up of at least eight batlles (judges) and the presiding judge.
The presiding judge of the Court of Batlles will therefore be the
presiding judge in the Batllia.
The
batlles are competent to judge all litigation at first instance level
except major criminal law offences. They are independent, competent
for the entire national territory and are remunerated from the State
budget.
The
Court of Batlles as a collegial court is divided into three chambers
(civil, criminal and administrative), plus a special chamber of
preliminary investigation. Three batlles are found in each chamber.
The
clerks of the court authenticate the hearings and rulings and assist the
batlles and courts in the exercise of their functions.
The
Court of Corts
It
is competent to judge major offences at first instance level as well
as to execute its judgements and other rulings.
It
exercises the legal functions of supervising prisons and applying
penalties.
It
is made up of a presiding judge, a deputy presiding judge and a
magistrate.
The
Superior Court of Justice
This
is the highest judicial authority in the Principality.
It
is made up of a presiding judge and eight magistrates appointed by the
Superior Council of Justice.
It
awards preliminary approval for the execution of rulings made by
foreign courts which may have civil consequences in Andorra.
It
is made up of a civil and criminal chamber and a chamber for
administrative and social security disputes.
The
Superior Council of Justice
This is an organ created to guarantee the independence of the judicial
power. Article 89 of the Constitution of the Principality describes the
characteristics of the representation, management and administration of
the judicial organisation in order to ensure its independence and
successful operation.
It is made up of five appointed members: one by each co-prince, one by the
President of Parliament (Síndic General), one by the Head of Government
and one by the magistrates and batlles. The members have a six-year term
of office which can be renewed once.
The
Superior Council of Justice appoints the batlles, magistrates and
clerks of the court. It also designates the presiding judges of the
Court of Batlles, of the Court of Corts and of the Superior Court of
Justice.
The
post of member of the Superior Council of Justice is incompatible with
any other public or legal function and with the exercise of the
profession of lawyer.
It
operates as follows: the five members meet in ordinary session three
times per year, following a convening by the presiding judge. They
choose a deputy presiding judge and secretary from among their
ranks.
The
Public Prosecutor's Office
The
Public Prosecutor's Office's task is to ensure the defence and
application of legal order as well as the independence of the courts.
In addition, it will support these in the application of the law to
safeguard the rights of citizens and to defend the general interest.
It
directs police action in judicial matters. The judicial police
therefore carry out inquiries on elucidating offences and take on the
role of obtaining evidence under its orders.
Its
members are appointed by the Superior Council of Justice following a
proposal from the Government, and have a renewable six-year term of
office.
The
Constitutional Court
The
Constitutional Court interprets the Constitution. It is subject solely
to the latter and the qualified Law on the Constitutional Court.
It
is made up of four constitutional magistrates, one for each co-prince
and two for the General Council; the members have an eight-year term
of office which is not consecutively renewable.
It
deals with exceptional procedures to protect the constitution
(procediment d'empara), according to the law, against the actions of
public powers which would violate the essential content of the rights
and freedoms recognised in titles III and IV of the
Constitution.
D-
Judicial rulings
Acords
are rulings by Courts which have not gathered in section or chamber, and
rulings by presiding judges when they are governmental in nature.
Rulings
by batlles and the courts which have a jurisdictional nature are called:
i.
Providències, when their aim is to establish the state of the dispute or
trial.
ii. Adjudications (Arrêts), when they rule on appeals on
providències, questions concerning points of law, problems or nullities
of procedure, or when they must take on this form because the law demands
it.
iii.
Judgements (Jugements), when they rule definitively on the dispute or
trial in any case whatsoever.
6)
Ombudsman
This institution created in 1998 protects and watches
over the rights and liberties granted by the Constitution. The Office of
the Ombudsman deals with complaints from individuals faced with violations
of rights by the public authorities. The Ombudsman can also act on
recommendations, bring to bear his legal powers whenever he sees fit and
submit proposals to adopt new measures.
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