The Portuguese Constitutional Court (Portuguese: Tribunal Constitucional, ) is a special court, defined by the Portuguese Constitution as part of the judicial branch of the Portuguese political organization. Unlike the rest of the country's courts, the Constitutional Court has important characteristics, such as a special composition, and unique competences. The main task of the court is to review the constitutionality of the newly approved laws, but it also has important powers related to the President of the Republic, the political parties and referenda.
The Portuguese Constitution defines the Constitutional Court as a completely independent organ, that operates independently from the other branches of government, such as the Executive or the Legislative. The judges of the Constitutional Court are independent and cannot be impeached. The decisions of the court are above the decisions of any other authority.
The court works in Lisbon, in the Ratton Palace located in Bairro Alto.
Read more about Portuguese Constitutional Court: Organization, Competences
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“The city is recruited from the country. In the year 1805, it is said, every legitimate monarch in Europe was imbecile. The city would have died out, rotted, and exploded, long ago, but that it was reinforced from the fields. It is only country which came to town day before yesterday, that is city and court today.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)