Constitutional Council

The Constitutional Council was created to ensure that the ASSU acts in the best interests of students and within the guidance of the ASSU Constitution. The Constitutional Council adjudicates cases where the constitutionality under the ASSU Constitution of an act by an Association legislative body, the President of the Association, the Nominations Commission, the Elections Commission, or any member(s) of the Association is called into question, including student groups.

The Constitutional Council is comprised of 5 members. All members must be currently enrolled students. Members shall serve until they resign, cease to be enrolled students, or are removed by a 4/5 vote of both Association legislative bodies. The Constitution tasks the ASSU President with selecting candidates for the Council and the legislative bodies are tasked with confirming candidates.

As the Constitutional Council meets on an adhoc basis, members of the community are invited to subscribe to the following email list in order to receive notice of meetings here.

If you are interested in seeing the minutes and agendas of the Constitutional Council, you may access them here.

2022
‍Stanford College Republicans v. Undergraduate Senate [Docket]
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‍2017
‍Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band v. Undergraduate Senate
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‍2000
‍Case 5: Election Rules and Free Speech
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‍Older Cases
‍Google Drive folder link
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‍Case Archives
‍Records of previous Constitutional Council case files can be found here.
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‍Rules of Order of the Constitutional CouncilThe Rules of Order of the Constitutional Council can be found here.

All interested parties, especially parties with business before the Constitutional Council, are encouraged to read these rules.

Elections Commissioner v. Chen
‍Case Docket
‍Final Order

While it may seem intimidating to submit a complaint before the Constitutional Council, the Council is accessible to everyone at Stanford and anyone is welcome to file a case here.

Cases in the past have been filed over email or more formally using our template, linked (DOCX, PDF). However, there is no obligation to use our template.

Cases are generally filed by emailing cc-chair@assu.stanford.edu.

Here are some examples of prior cases filings:

1. A complaint about elections procedures.
2. A complaint about free speech.
3. A case about direct petitions for annual grants.

The Constitutional Council is comprised of 5 members. All members must be currently enrolled students. Members shall serve until they resign, cease to be enrolled students, or are removed by a 4/5 vote of both Association legislative bodies. The Constitution tasks the ASSU President with selecting candidates for the Council and the legislative bodies are tasked with confirming candidates.

As the Constitutional Council meets on an adhoc basis, members of the community are invited to subscribe to the following email list in order to receive notice of meetings here.

If you are interested in seeing the minutes and agendas of the Constitutional Council, you may access them here.

If you would like to reach out to the Council please email cc-chair (at) assu (Dot) stanford.edu

The ASSU Constitutional Council comprises five members. Councillors are nominated by the President of the Association and confirmed by the legislative bodies. The Council elects its chair by majority vote each academic year.