ABSTRACT
Constitutional courts and supreme courts of final appellate jurisdiction are unique institutions. As the principal courts in the legal hierarchy of the state, they represent the apex of the law, the fundamental institution that addresses and resolves the most important legal disputes, and thus the body entrusted with responsibility for supervising the legal contours of the regime. But to the extent that they exercise judicial review, overturning executive and legislative initiatives for inconsistency with the constitution, they are also inevitably political institutions whose decisions affect the character of the regime.
