ABSTRACT
The concept of 'decision-making process' is not to be confused with that of 'judicial process' which refers to 'a set of interrelated procedures and roles for deciding disputes by an authoritative person or persons whose decisions are regularly obeyed'. The most relevant aspect of the decision-making process is represented by its personal dimension: the role of the judicial panel's most prominent members (its president, the rapporteur judges and the opinion-writer) and that of law clerks. This chapter focuses on the Western and East-Central European constitutional courts and makes a few comparative remarks on the US Supreme Court. The Belgian Constitutional Court's internal organisation also shows a double structure but in a sense different from that of the Bundesverfassungsgericht and for different reasons. A majority of the presidents of European constitutional courts enjoy, as the US Chief Justice, the power to assign cases.66 This way, they choose the so-called 'rapporteur judge'.
