Supreme court
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The supreme court in some countries, provinces and states, is the highest court in that jurisdiction and functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be appealed. In the United States, for example, there is a federal Supreme Court as well as supreme courts within most of the states. However, some jurisdictions do not use the phrase "Supreme Court" in naming their highest courts, as described below.
Although some countries and subordinate states follow the American model of having a supreme court that interprets that jurisdiction's constitution, most (including all of the formerly communist Central and Eastern European nations except Estonia) follow the German model of a separate constitutional court.
Many higher courts create through their decisions case law applicable within their respective jurisdictions or interpret codal provisions in civil-law countries to maintain a uniform interpretation:
- Most common-law nations have the doctrine of stare decisis in which the rulings (decisions) of higher courts constitute binding precedent upon courts of equal or lower status within their jurisdiction.
- Most civil-law nations do not have the official doctrine of stare decisis and hence the rulings of the supreme court are usually not binding outside the immediate case in question. Some exceptions such as Spain are discussed below.
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2 Civil-law jurisdictions 3 Scotland 4 Quebec 5 Soviet-model jurisdictions |
Common-law jurisdictions
United Kingdom
There is no single court called the "Supreme Court". In England and Wales, the functions of a court of last resort is shared by the High Court of Justice of England and Wales and the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. Scotland is not a common law jurisdiction but based upon uncodified civil law (see below).
Above all of these courts are the Law Lords of the House of Lords, the most senior court in the United Kingdom (along with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, which has a smaller but distinct jurisidiction). However, this appears poised to change with the proposed creation of a UK Supreme Court. For more information, see Courts of the United Kingdom.
Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada was established in 1875 but only became the highest court in the country in 1949 when the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was abolished.
Australia
The High Court of Australia became the court of last resort with the passing of the Australia Act in 1986. This act abolished the right of appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Each state and territory has its own supreme court, which leads to some confusion with young schoolchildren or overseas tourists (particularly those outside the Commonwealth of Nations) since the term "supreme court" seems at first to be loftier than "high court". However, previous to the federation of Australia, each colony had its own independent judicial system which typically had a supreme court as the highest court physically within colonial jurisdiction.
New Zealand
The right of appeal to the Privy Council has recently been abolished following the passing of the Supreme Court Act (2003). The new Supreme Court of New Zealand was officially established at the beginning of 2004 although it will not come into operation until July.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, the power of final adjudication which was previously vested with the Privy Council is now vested in the Court of Final Appeal following Hong Kong's reunification with China in 1997. Under the Basic Law, the constitutional document of Hong Kong, the region remains a common law jurisdiction. Consequently, judges from other common law jurisdictions (including England and Wales) can be recruited and continue to serve in the judiciary according to Article 92 of the Basic Law.
On the other hand, the power of interpretation of the Basic Law itself, being part of the national law, is vested in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China (NPCSC) in accordance with Article 158 of the Basic Law. This has sparkled controversy in the right of abode case in 1999.
United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest U.S. Court. Its jurisdiction over the constitutionality of Acts of Congress was unclear until it was asserted in Marbury v. Madison in the early 19th century.
While federal law is applicable within Louisiana, its state legal system is as described under "Civil code jurisdictions" below.
In New York State, "Supreme Court" is actually the lowest court or trial court for serious cases in each county; each of its districts is subordinate to its Appellate Division, and the four Departments of the Appellate Division, in turn to the New York Court of Appeals.
In most U.S. states, courts of last resort are called supreme courts. For details on the states that differ, see a separate discussion on state supreme courts.
Civil-law jurisdictions
The Roman law and the Corpus Juris Civilis are generally held to be the basis for civil law. In the nineteenth century the Napoleonic Code was an attempt to codify this approach to law in many European jurisdictions.
France
France divides supreme jurisdiction into 3 entities:
- judicial cases (civil justice or criminal justice): Cour de Cassation
- most recourses against the administration, cancellation of administrative decisions: Conseil d'Etat
- constitutional challenges with respect to statute law: Constitutional Council (France)
Germany
In Germany, there is no single supreme court. Interpretation of the German Constitution, the Grundgesetz, is the task of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany.
With civil and criminal cases, the highest court in a hierarchy of appellate courts is the Bundesgerichtshof. The other branches of the German judicial branch for social, labor, and administrative cases each have their own appellate systems and highest courts.
Spain
The high courts in Spain can create binding precedents if they choose to do so.
Scotland
In Scotland, the highest court is called the Court of Session. There are some appeals to the Law Lords that are interpreted under the principles of civil law.
Quebec
While the rest of Canada is based upon the common law, Quebec has codified its civil law sources in the Civil Code of Quebec. It is interpreted by the Courts of Quebec amongst which the highest court is the Quebec Court of Appeals. Unlike most other civil-law jurisdictions the principles of stare decisis do apply in Quebec and thus it is often called a mixed system (systeme mixte).
Louisiana
The U.S. state of Louisiana has a legal system based on civil law, unlike most of the rest of the states; several of the states such as California and New York State have been under civil law systems in their history and these origins influence their legal systems to some extent. Puerto Rico while not a state is considered a civil-law jurisdiction. In all these jurisdictions federal law may override the local law in certain situations.
Soviet-model jurisdictions
In most nations with constitutions modeled after the Soviet Union, the legislature was given the power of being the court of last resort. However, because of the lack of a strong legal system, this power was only nominal.
People's Republic of China
In the People's Republic of China, an emphasis on constitutional regularity and rule of law has given the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China (NPCSC) some authority to interpret law.