Chapter 269

Burundi Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; Constitutional Court; High Court of Justice (composed of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court)

Cambodia Supreme Council of the Magistracy (provided for in the constitution and formed in December 1997); Supreme Court (and lower courts) exercises judicial authority

Cameroon Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); High Court of Justice (consists of nine judges and six substitute judges, elected by the National Assembly)

Canada Supreme Court of Canada (judges are appointed by the prime minister through the governor general); Federal Court of Canada; Federal Court of Appeal; Provincial Courts (these are named variously Court of Appeal, Court of Queens Bench, Superior Court, Supreme Court, and Court of Justice)

Cape Verde Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Supremo Tribunal de Justia

Cayman Islands Summary Court; Grand Court; Cayman Islands Court of Appeal

Central African Republic Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; Constitutional Court (3 judges appointed by the president, 3 by the president of the National Assembly, and 3 by fellow judges); Court of Appeal; Criminal Courts; Inferior Courts

Chad Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; Criminal Courts; Magistrate Courts

Chile Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by the president and ratified by the Senate from lists of candidates provided by the court itself; the president of the Supreme Court is elected every three years by the 20-member court); Constitutional Tribunal

China Supreme People's Court (judges appointed by the National People's Congress); Local People's Courts (comprise higher, intermediate, and basic courts); Special People's Courts (primarily military, maritime, railway transportation, and forestry courts)

Christmas Island Supreme Court; District Court; Magistrate's Court

Cocos (Keeling) Islands Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court

Colombia four roughly coequal, supreme judicial organs; Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (highest court of criminal law; judges are selected by their peers from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Council of State (highest court of administrative law; judges are selected from the nominees of the Superior Judicial Council for eight-year terms); Constitutional Court (guards integrity and supremacy of the constitution; rules on constitutionality of laws, amendments to the constitution, and international treaties); Superior Judicial Council (administers and disciplines the civilian judiciary; resolves jurisdictional conflicts arising between other courts; members are elected by three sister courts and Congress for eight-year terms)

Comoros Supreme Court or Cour Supremes (two members appointed by the president, two members elected by the Federal Assembly, one elected by the Council of each island, and others are former presidents of the republic)

Congo, Democratic Republic of the Constitutional Court; Appeals Court or Cour de Cassation; Council of State; High Military Court; plus civil and military courts and tribunals

Congo, Republic of the Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Cook Islands High Court

Costa Rica Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (22 justices are elected for renewable eight-year terms by the Legislative Assembly)

Cote d'Ivoire Supreme Court or Cour Supreme consists of four chambers: Judicial Chamber for criminal cases, Audit Chamber for financial cases, Constitutional Chamber for judicial review cases, and Administrative Chamber for civil cases; there is no legal limit to the number of members

Croatia Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; judges for both courts appointed for eight-year terms by the Judicial Council of the Republic, which is elected by the Assembly

Cuba People's Supreme Court or Tribunal Supremo Popular (president, vice president, and other judges are elected by the National Assembly)

Cyprus Supreme Court (judges are appointed jointly by the president and vice president) note: there is also a Supreme Court in the area administered by Turkish Cypriots

Czech Republic Supreme Court; Constitutional Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by the president for a 10-year term

Denmark Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the monarch for life)

Djibouti Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Dominica Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of the Court of Appeal and the High Court (located in Saint Lucia; one of the six judges must reside in Dominica and preside over the Court of Summary Jurisdiction)

Dominican Republic Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges are appointed by the National Judicial Council comprised of the president, the leaders of both chambers of congress, the president of the Supreme Court, and an additional non-governing party congressional representative)

Ecuador Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (according to the Constitution, new justices are elected by the full Supreme Court; in December 2004, however, Congress successfully replaced the entire court via a simple-majority resolution)

Egypt Supreme Constitutional Court

El Salvador Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (15 judges are selected by the Legislative Assembly; the 15 judges are assigned to four Supreme Court chambers - constitutional, civil, penal, and administrative conflict)

Equatorial Guinea Supreme Tribunal

Eritrea High Court - regional, subregional, and village courts; also have military and special courts

Estonia National Court (chairman appointed by Parliament for life)

Ethiopia Federal Supreme Court (the president and vice president of the Federal Supreme Court are recommended by the prime minister and appointed by the House of People's Representatives; for other federal judges, the prime minister submits to the House of People's Representatives for appointment candidates selected by the Federal Judicial Administrative Council)

European Union Court of Justice of the European Communities (ensures that the treaties are interpreted and applied uniformly throughout the EU; resolve constitutional issues among the EU institutions) - 27 justices (one from each member state) appointed for a six-year term; note - for the sake of efficiency, the court can sit with 13 justices known as the "Grand Chamber"; Court of First Instance - 27 justices appointed for a six-year term

Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) Supreme Court (chief justice is a nonresident); Magistrates Court (senior magistrate presides over civil and criminal divisions); Court of Summary Jurisdiction

Faroe Islands none

Fiji Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president); Court of Appeal; High Court; Magistrates' Courts

Finland Supreme Court or Korkein Oikeus (judges appointed by the president)

France Supreme Court of Appeals or Cour de Cassation (judges are appointed by the president from nominations of the High Council of the Judiciary); Constitutional Council or Conseil Constitutionnel (three members appointed by the president, three appointed by the president of the National Assembly, and three appointed by the president of the Senate); Council of State or Conseil d'Etat

French Polynesia Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Court of the First Instance or Tribunal de Premiere Instance; Court of Administrative Law or Tribunal Administratif

Gabon Supreme Court or Cour Supreme consisting of three chambers - Judicial, Administrative, and Accounts; Constitutional Court; Courts of Appeal; Court of State Security; County Courts

Gambia, The Supreme Court

Georgia Supreme Court (judges elected by the Supreme Council on the president's or chairman of the Supreme Court's recommendation); Constitutional Court; first and second instance courts

Germany Federal Constitutional Court or Bundesverfassungsgericht (half the judges are elected by the Bundestag and half by the Bundesrat)

Ghana Supreme Court

Gibraltar Supreme Court; Court of Appeal

Greece Supreme Judicial Court; Special Supreme Tribunal; all judges appointed for life by the president after consultation with a judicial council

Greenland High Court or Landsret (appeals can be made to the Ostre Landsret or Eastern Division of the High Court or Supreme Court in Copenhagen)

Grenada Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting of a court of Appeal and a High Court of Justice (a High Court judge is assigned to and resides in Grenada)

Guam Federal District Court (judge is appointed by the president); Territorial Superior Court (judges appointed for eight-year terms by the governor)

Guatemala Constitutional Court or Corte de Constitucionalidad is Guatemala's highest court (five judges are elected for concurrent five-year terms); Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (13 members serve concurrent five-year terms and elect a president of the Court each year from among their number; the president of the Supreme Court of Justice also supervises trial judges around the country, who are named to five-year terms)

Guernsey Royal Court (judges elected by an electoral college and the bailiff)

Guinea Court of First Instance or Tribunal de Premiere Instance; Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Guinea-Bissau Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases valued at more than $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases valued at less than $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases)

Guyana Supreme Court of Judicature, consisting of the High Court and the Judicial Court of Appeal, with right of final appeal to the Caribbean Court of Justice

Haiti Supreme Court or Cour de Cassation

Holy See (Vatican City) there are three tribunals responsible for civil and criminal matters within Vatican City; three other tribunals rule on issues pertaining to the Holy See note: judicial duties were established by the Motu Proprio of Pope PIUS XII on 1 May 1946

Honduras Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (15 judges are elected for seven-year terms by the National Congress)

Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Hungary Constitutional Court (judges are elected by the National Assembly for nine-year terms)

Iceland Supreme Court or Haestirettur (justices are appointed for life by the Minister of Justice); eight district courts (justices are appointed for life by the Minister of Justice)

India Supreme Court (one chief justice and 25 associate justices are appointed by the president and remain in office until they reach the age of 65 or are removed for "proved misbehavior")

Indonesia Supreme Court or Mahkamah Agung (justices appointed by the president from a list of candidates selected by the legislature); a separate Constitutional Court or Mahkamah Konstitusi was invested by the president on 16 August 2003; in March 2004 the Supreme Court assumed administrative and financial responsibility for the lower court system from the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights; Labor Court under supervision of Supreme Court began functioning in January 2006

Iran The Supreme Court (Qeveh Qazaieh) and the four-member High Council of the Judiciary have a single head and overlapping responsibilities; together they supervise the enforcement of all laws and establish judicial and legal policies; lower courts include a special clerical court, a revolutionary court, and a special administrative court

Iraq the Iraq Constitution calls for the federal judicial power to be comprised of the Higher Juridical Council, Federal Supreme Court, Federal Court of Cassation, Public Prosecution Department, Judiciary Oversight Commission and other federal courts that are regulated in accordance with the law

Ireland Supreme Court (judges appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister and cabinet)

Isle of Man High Court of Justice (justices are appointed by the Lord Chancellor of England on the nomination of the lieutenant governor)

Israel Supreme Court (justices appointed by Judicial Selection Committee - made up of all three branches of the government; mandatory retirement age is 70)

Italy Constitutional Court or Corte Costituzionale (composed of 15 judges: one-third appointed by the president, one-third elected by parliament, one-third elected by the ordinary and administrative Supreme Courts)

Jamaica Supreme Court (judges appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister); Court of Appeal

Japan Supreme Court (chief justice is appointed by the monarch after designation by the cabinet; all other justices are appointed by the cabinet)

Jersey Royal Court (judges elected by an electoral college and the bailiff)

Jordan Court of Cassation; Supreme Court (court of final appeal)

Kazakhstan Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional Council (7 members)

Kenya Court of Appeal (chief justice is appointed by the president); High Court

Kiribati Court of Appeal; High Court; 26 Magistrates' courts; judges at all levels are appointed by the president

Korea, North Central Court (judges are elected by the Supreme People's Assembly)

Korea, South Supreme Court (justices appointed by the president with consent of National Assembly); Constitutional Court (justices appointed by the president based partly on nominations by National Assembly and Chief Justice of the court)

Kosovo Supreme Court judges are appointed by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General (SRSG); district courts judges are appointed by the SRSG; municipal courts judges are appointed by the SRSG note: after the termination of UNMIK's mandate, the Kosovo Judicial Council (KJC) will propose to the president candidates for appointment or reappointment as judges and prosecutors; the KJC is also responsible for decisions on the promotion and transfer of judges and disciplinary proceedings against judges; at least 15% of Supreme Court and district court judges shall be from nonmajority communities

Kuwait High Court of Appeal

Kyrgyzstan Supreme Court; Constitutional Court (judges of both the Supreme and Constitutional Courts are appointed for 10-year terms by the Jorgorku Kengesh on the recommendation of the president; their mandatory retirement age is 70 years); Higher Court of Arbitration; Local Courts (judges appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Council on Legal Affairs for a probationary period of five years, then 10 years)

Laos People's Supreme Court (the president of the People's Supreme Court is elected by the National Assembly on the recommendation of the National Assembly Standing Committee; the vice president of the People's Supreme Court and the judges are appointed by the National Assembly Standing Committee)

Latvia Supreme Court (judges' appointments are confirmed by Parliament); Constitutional Court (judges' appointments are confirmed by Parliament)

Lebanon four Courts of Cassation (three courts for civil and commercial cases and one court for criminal cases); Constitutional Council (called for in Ta'if Accord - rules on constitutionality of laws); Supreme Council (hears charges against the president and prime minister as needed)

Lesotho High Court (chief justice appointed by the monarch acting on the advice of the Prime Minister); Court of Appeal; Magistrate Courts; customary or traditional court

Liberia Supreme Court

Libya Supreme Court

Liechtenstein Supreme Court or Oberster Gerichtshof; Court of Appeal or Obergericht

Lithuania Constitutional Court; Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; judges for all courts appointed by the president

Luxembourg judicial courts and tribunals (3 Justices of the Peace, 2 district courts, and 1 Supreme Court of Appeals); administrative courts and tribunals (State Prosecutor's Office, administrative courts and tribunals, and the Constitutional Court); judges for all courts are appointed for life by the monarch

Macau Court of Final Appeal in Macau Special Administrative Region

Macedonia Supreme Court - the Assembly appoints the judges; Constitutional Court - the Assembly appoints the judges; Republican Judicial Council - the Assembly appoints the judges

Madagascar Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; High Constitutional Court or Haute Cour Constitutionnelle

Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal; High Court (chief justice appointed by the president, puisne judges appointed on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission); magistrate's courts

Malaysia Civil Courts include Federal Court, Court of Appeal, High Court of Malaya on peninsula Malaysia, and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in states of Borneo (judges appointed by the paramount ruler on the advice of the prime minister); Sharia Courts include Sharia Appeal Court, Sharia High Court, and Sharia Subordinate Courts at state-level and deal with religious and family matters such as custody, divorce, and inheritance, only for Muslims; decisions of Sharia courts cannot be appealed to civil courts

Maldives Supreme Court; Supreme Court judges are appointed by the President with approval of voting members of the People's Council; High Court; Trial Courts; all lower court judges are appointed by the Judicial Service Commission

Mali Supreme Court or Cour Supreme

Malta Constitutional Court; Court of Appeal; judges for both courts are appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister

Marshall Islands Supreme Court; High Court; Traditional Rights Court

Mauritania Supreme Court or Cour Supreme; Court of Appeals; lower courts

Mauritius Supreme Court

Mayotte Supreme Court or Tribunal Superieur d'Appel

Mexico Supreme Court of Justice or Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nacion (justices or ministros are appointed by the president with consent of the Senate)

Micronesia, Federated States of Supreme Court

Moldova Supreme Court; Constitutional Court (the sole authority for constitutional judicature)

Monaco Supreme Court or Tribunal Supreme (judges appointed by the monarch on the basis of nominations by the National Council)

Mongolia Supreme Court (serves as appeals court for people's and provincial courts but rarely overturns verdicts of lower courts; judges are nominated by the General Council of Courts and approved by the president)

Montenegro Constitutional Court (five judges with nine-year terms); Supreme Court (judges have life tenure)

Montserrat Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court (based in Saint Lucia, one judge of the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the High Court)

Morocco Supreme Court (judges are appointed on the recommendation of the Supreme Council of the Judiciary, presided over by the monarch)

Mozambique Supreme Court (the court of final appeal; some of its professional judges are appointed by the president and some are elected by the Assembly); other courts include an Administrative Court, customs courts, maritime courts, courts marshal, labor courts note: although the constitution provides for a separate Constitutional Court, one has never been established; in its absence the Supreme Court reviews constitutional cases

Namibia Supreme Court (judges appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission)

Nauru Supreme Court

Nepal Supreme Court or Sarbochha Adalat (chief justice is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional Council; the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council)

Netherlands Supreme Court or Hoge Raad (justices are nominated for life by the monarch)

Netherlands Antilles Joint High Court of Justice (judges appointed by the monarch)

New Caledonia Court of Appeal or Cour d'Appel; County Courts; Joint Commerce Tribunal Court; Children's Court

New Zealand Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; High Court; note - judges appointed by the Governor-General

Nicaragua Supreme Court or Corte Suprema de Justicia (16 judges elected for five-year terms by the National Assembly)

Niger State Court or Cour d'Etat; Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel

Nigeria Supreme Court (judges appointed by the President); Federal Court of Appeal (judges are appointed by the federal government on the advice of the Advisory Judicial Committee)

Niue Supreme Court of New Zealand; High Court of Niue

Norfolk Island Supreme Court; Court of Petty Sessions

Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Supreme Court; Superior Court; Federal District Court

Norway Supreme Court or Hoyesterett (justices appointed by the monarch)

Oman Supreme Court note: the nascent civil court system, administered by region, has judges who practice secular and Sharia law

Pakistan Supreme Court (justices appointed by the president); Federal Islamic or Sharia Court

Palau Supreme Court; Court of Common Pleas; Land Court

Panama Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (nine judges appointed for 10-year terms); five superior courts; three courts of appeal

Papua New Guinea Supreme Court (the chief justice is appointed by the governor general on the proposal of the National Executive Council after consultation with the minister responsible for justice; other judges are appointed by the Judicial and Legal Services Commission)

Paraguay Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (nine judges appointed on the proposal of the Council of Magistrates or Consejo de la Magistratura)

Peru Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are appointed by the National Council of the Judiciary)

Philippines Supreme Court (15 justices are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial and Bar Council and serve until 70 years of age); Court of Appeals; Sandigan-bayan (special court for hearing corruption cases of government officials)

Pitcairn Islands Magistrate's Court; Supreme Court; Court of Appeal; Judicial Officers are appointed by the Governor

Poland Supreme Court (judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the National Council of the Judiciary for an indefinite period); Constitutional Tribunal (judges are chosen by the Sejm for nine-year terms)

Portugal Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal de Justica (judges appointed for life by the Conselho Superior da Magistratura)

Puerto Rico Supreme Court; Appellate Court; Court of First Instance composed of two sections: a Superior Court and a Municipal Court (justices for all these courts appointed by the governor with the consent of the Senate)

Qatar Courts of First Instance, Appeal, and Cassation; an Administrative Court and a Constitutional Court were established in 2007; note - all judges are appointed by Amiri Decree based on the recommendation of the Supreme Judiciary Council for renewable three-year terms