Trials before the Constitutional Court are adversarial and mostly follow the rules for conventional civil trials.

In theory, trials before the Constitutional Court are oral and public.

A complaint before the Court is first assigned to one of the members for case management.
The case manager or reporter (Referent) directs the preliminary research.

An office staffed with about 80 specialists and assistants is attached to the Court to aid reporters in this task.

Once the preliminary investigation is complete, a date for oral argument is set and announced in the Wiener Zeitung, the Austrian government gazette.

The president takes the chair.
In the absence of the president, the vice president takes the chair; in the absence of both, the session is chaired by the oldest regular member.

The Court convenes and hears first the official presentation of case and research by the reporter, then the actual argument.

The Court then retires to deliberate, reaches a decision, and pronounces the verdict.

In practice, the general rule that trials should be oral and public has several broad exceptions and oral argument is rare today.
Oral pronouncements are even rarer; deliberation can take considerable time; the verdict is usually just mailed out once it has been reached.

The way trials before the Constitutional Court were originally envisioned, all 14 members should usually be present for argument and deliberation.
The actual quorum, however, is either 9 members or 5 members, depending on the specifics of the case.
The large percentage of cases that can be decided by only 5 members and the Court's increasing workload have led the Court to create a system of so-called Small Senates (Kleine Senate); few cases today are handled by a true plenary session.
This development is controversial.

Cases are decided by a simple majority of the members.
The chair does not vote but does break ties.

Verdicts tend to be concise.
The total length of the typical verdict is between 5 and 50 pages, with the actual opinion running to between 2 and 10 pages.
Only the actual verdict is published; there are no dissenting or concurring opinions.
The language is academic and dry.
The Court addresses itself more to the legal community than to the general public; instead of reiterating existing court opinions and scholarly publications at any length, it simply references them.
Trials before the Constitutional Court are adversarial and mostly follow the rules for conventional civil trials.
In theory, trials before the Constitutional Court are oral and public.
A complaint before the Court is first assigned to one of the members for case management. The case manager or reporter (Referent) directs the preliminary research.
An office staffed with about 80 specialists and assistants is attached to the Court to aid reporters in this task.
Once the preliminary investigation is complete, a date for oral argument is set and announced in the Wiener Zeitung, the Austrian government gazette.
The president takes the chair. In the absence of the president, the vice president takes the chair; in the absence of both, the session is chaired by the oldest regular member.
The Court convenes and hears first the official presentation of case and research by the reporter, then the actual argument.
The Court then retires to deliberate, reaches a decision, and pronounces the verdict.
In practice, the general rule that trials should be oral and public has several broad exceptions and oral argument is rare today. Oral pronouncements are even rarer; deliberation can take considerable time; the verdict is usually just mailed out once it has been reached.
The way trials before the Constitutional Court were originally envisioned, all 14 members should usually be present for argument and deliberation. The actual quorum, however, is either 9 members or 5 members, depending on the specifics of the case. The large percentage of cases that can be decided by only 5 members and the Court's increasing workload have led the Court to create a system of so-called Small Senates (Kleine Senate); few cases today are handled by a true plenary session. This development is controversial.
Cases are decided by a simple majority of the members. The chair does not vote but does break ties.
Verdicts tend to be concise. The total length of the typical verdict is between 5 and 50 pages, with the actual opinion running to between 2 and 10 pages. Only the actual verdict is published; there are no dissenting or concurring opinions. The language is academic and dry. The Court addresses itself more to the legal community than to the general public; instead of reiterating existing court opinions and scholarly publications at any length, it simply references them.
Constitutional Court (Austria)