Art. 19 Judicial Organisation Act (LOJ) - Collegial Authority

1. For the exercise of judicial functions and subject to Article 20 of the present law, the Cantonal Court is composed of civil, criminal, public law, tax law, and social security law divisions, sections, and chambers. The number of judges per division, section, or chamber, as well as their powers, are regulated in the organizational rules of the Valais courts or in special legislation.

1bis Subject to Article 65 paragraph 3bis of the VVRG, in tax law cases, two judges of the tax law division of the Cantonal Court deliberate and decide with an assessor. The presiding judge determines the composition of the court for each case.

2. All cases for which the law does not expressly require an oral hearing, and provided no judge requests an oral proceeding, can be decided based on the report and the files by circulation. Decisions made by circulation must be unanimous. Each judge must sign the report.

3. If a division wishes to deviate from the jurisprudence of another division or the full court, it can only do so with the consent of the other division or the full court. This decision is made without hearings and excluding the public. It binds the division that has to decide on the individual case.