Bolivia

Supreme Court or Corte Suprema (judges elected by popular

vote from list of candidates pre-selected by Assembly for six-year

terms); District Courts (one in each department); Plurinational

Constitutional Court (five primary or titulares and five alternate

or suplente magistrates elected by popular vote from list of

candidates pre-selected by Assembly for six-year terms; to rule on

constitutional issues); Plurinational Electoral Organ (seven members

elected by the Assembly and the president; one member must be of

indigenous origin to six-year terms); Agro-Environmental Court

(judges elected by popular vote from list of candidates pre-selected

by Assembly for six-year terms; to run on agro-environmental

issues); provincial and local courts (to try minor cases)

Bosnia and Herzegovina

BiH Constitutional Court (consists of nine

members: four members are selected by the Bosniak/Croat Federation's

House of Representatives, two members by the Republika Srpska's

National Assembly, and three non-Bosnian members by the president of

the European Court of Human Rights); BiH State Court (consists of 44

national judges and seven international judges and has three

divisions - Administrative, Appellate and Criminal - having

jurisdiction over cases related to state-level law and cases

initiated in the entities that question BiH's sovereignty, political

independence, or national security or with economic crimes that have

serious repercussions to BiH's economy, beyond that of an entity or

Brcko District); a War Crimes Chamber opened in March 2005

note: the entities each have a Supreme Court; each entity also has a

number of lower courts; there are 10 cantonal courts in the

Federation, plus a number of municipal courts; the Republika Srpska

has five district courts and a number of municipal courts

Botswana

High Court; Court of Appeal; Magistrates' Courts (one in

each district)

Brazil

Supreme Federal Tribunal or STF (11 ministers are appointed

for life by the president and confirmed by the Senate); Higher

Tribunal of Justice; Regional Federal Tribunals (judges are

appointed for life); note - though appointed "for life," judges,

like all federal employees, have a mandatory retirement age of 70

British Virgin Islands

Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, consisting

of the High Court of Justice and the Court of Appeal (one judge of

the Supreme Court is a resident of the islands and presides over the

High Court); Magistrate's Court; Juvenile Court; Court of Summary

Jurisdiction

Brunei

Supreme Court - chief justice and judges are sworn in by

monarch for three-year terms; Judicial Committee of Privy Council in

London is final court of appeal for civil cases; Sharia courts deal

with Islamic laws (2006)

Bulgaria

independent judiciary comprised of judges, prosecutors and

investigating magistrates who are appointed, promoted, demoted, and

dismissed by a 25-member Supreme Judicial Council (consists of the

chairmen of the two Supreme Courts, the Chief Prosecutor, and 22

members, half of whom are elected by the National Assembly and the

other half by the bodies of the judiciary for a 5-year term in

office); three levels of case review; 182 courts of which two

Supreme Courts act as the last instance on civil and criminal cases

(the Supreme Court of Cassation) and appeals of government decisions

(the Supreme Administrative Court)

Burkina Faso

Supreme Court; Appeals Court

Burma

remnants of the British-era legal system are in place, but

there is no guarantee of a fair public trial; the judiciary is not

independent of the executive

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 Queen's Bench, Superior Court,

Supreme Court, and Court of Justice)

Cape Verde

Supreme Tribunal of Justice or Supremo Tribunal de Justia

Cayman Islands

Grand Court; Cayman Islands Court of Appeal; Summary

Court

Central African Republic

Supreme Court or Cour Supreme;

Constitutional Court (three judges appointed by the president, three

by the president of the National Assembly, and three 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 (eight-members - two each from the Senate, Chamber of

Deputies, Supreme Court, and National Security Council - review the

constitutionality of laws approved by Congress)

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

are 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 presidents, and other judges are elected by the National

Assembly)

Curacao

Common Court of Justice, Joint High Court of Justice (judges

appointed by the monarch)

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; Supreme

Administrative Court; chairman and deputy chairmen are appointed by

the president for a 10-year term

Denmark

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

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

National Court of Justice or Corte Nacional de Justicia

(according to the Constitution, justices are elected through a

procedure overseen by the Judiciary Council); Constitutional Court

or Corte Constitucional (Constitutional Court justices are appointed

by a commission composed of two delegates each from the Executive,

Legislative, and Transparency branches of government)

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

Supreme Court (chairman appointed for life by Parliament)

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

general courts - deal with criminal and civil cases (include

district courts, Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court or Korkein

Oikeus, whose judges are appointed by the president); administrative

courts

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

are 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 (two High Court judges are

assigned to and reside in Grenada); Itinerant Court of Appeal three

judges; member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)

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 by Congress for

concurrent five-year terms); Supreme Court of Justice or Corte

Suprema de Justicia (13 members are elected by Congress to 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 Court of Appeal, with right of final appeal to the Caribbean

Court of Justice (CCJ)

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, papal

directive, 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 is the final court of

appeal but does not have the power of judicial review (justices are

appointed by the president from a list of candidates selected by the

legislature); in March 2004 the Supreme Court assumed administrative

and financial responsibility for the lower court system from the

Ministry of Justice and Human Rights; Constitutional Court or

Mahkamah Konstitusi (invested by the president on 16 August 2003)

has the power of judicial review, jurisdiction over the results of a

general election, and reviews actions to dismiss a president from

office; Labor Court under supervision of Supreme Court began

functioning in January 2006; the Anti-Corruption Court has

jurisdiction over corruption cases brought by the independent

Corruption Eradication Commission

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 Judicial 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; Privy Council in

UK; member of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ)

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)

Kazakhstan

Supreme Court (44 members); Constitutional Council (seven

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; district courts; municipal courts

note: the Kosovo Constitution dictates that the Supreme Court of

Kosovo is the highest judicial authority, and provides for a Kosovo

Judicial Council (KJC) that proposes 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

percent of Supreme Court and district court judges shall be from

non-majority 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 Jogorku 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 (three Justices of the

Peace, two district courts, and one 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; Constitutional Court; Republican Judicial

Council

note: 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 are appointed by the king 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 First Instance; Court of Appeal

note: magistrates and judges for the 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 serve 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, Constitutional Court, customs courts, maritime courts, courts

marshal, labor courts

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 (the president appoints the

chief justice on recommendation of the Constitutional Council; the

chief justice appoints other judges on the recommendation of the

Judicial Council)