A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single judge could describe that judge as "their tribunal". Many governmental bodies are titled "tribunals" to emphasize that they are not courts of normal jurisdiction. For instance, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was a body specially constituted under international law; in Great Britain, employment tribunals are bodies set up to hear specific employment disputes.
The Federal Supreme Court is the supreme court of Brazil, serving primarily as the country's Constitutional Court. It is the highest court of law in Brazil for constitutional issues and its rulings cannot be appealed. On cases involving exclusively non-constitutional issues, regarding federal laws, the highest court is, by rule, the Superior Court of Justice.
The law of Brazil is based on statutes and, partly and more recently, a mechanism called súmulas vinculantes. It derives mainly from the European civil law systems, particularly the Portuguese, the Napoleonic French and the German.
The Superior Electoral Court is the highest body of the Brazilian Electoral Justice, which also comprises one Regional Electoral Court in each of the 26 states and the Federal District of the country, as determined by the Article 118 of the Constitution of Brazil.
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, and highcourt of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court are binding on all other courts in a nation and are not subject to further review by any other court. Supreme courts typically function primarily as appellate courts, hearing appeals from decisions of lower trial courts, or from intermediate-level appellate courts. A supreme court can also, in certain circumstances, act as a court of original jurisdiction.
The Supreme Court of Justice is the highest court of law in Portugal without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court.
The judiciary of Portugal is a system of courts that together constitute one of the four organs of Sovereignty as defined by the Portuguese Constitution. The courts are independent from the other three Portuguese organs of Sovereignty.
The Superior Court of Justice is the highest appellate court in Brazil for non-constitutional issues regarding federal law. The STJ also has original jurisdiction over some cases. Its jurisdiction is provided for in Article 105 of the Brazilian Constitution.
The Regional Federal Courts are the courts of appeal in the Federal Courts of Brazil, the second instance courts of the Brazilian federal justice system, responsible not only for appeals of trial court decisions, but also for writs of security, habeas corpus, and habeas data against acts by federal judges, motions to set aside judgments, criminal revisions, and conflicts of jurisdiction.
The National Council of Justice (CNJ) is an administrative and oversight organ of the Brazilian Judiciary created by constitutional amendment in 2004 as a part of judicial reform. Among its responsibilities are ensuring that the judicial system remains autonomous, conducting disciplinary proceedings against members of the Judiciary, and compiling and publishing statistics on the Brazilian court system. The Council has nationwide jurisdiction over all courts except the Supreme Federal Court, but makes no rulings on cases and does not review judgements of other courts. Its fifteen members are chosen by the Supreme Federal Court for two-year terms.
The Judiciary of Spain consists of Courts and Tribunals, composed of judges and magistrates (Justices), who have the power to administer justice in the name of the King of Spain.
The Federal Government of Mexico is the national government of the United Mexican States, the central government established by its constitution to share sovereignty over the republic with the governments of the 31 individual Mexican states, and to represent such governments before international bodies such as the United Nations.
The Judiciary of Brazil is the group of public entities designated by the Brazilian constitution to carry out the country's judicial functions.
Luiz Fux is a Brazilian judge and the former Chief Justice of the Supreme Federal Court. He is of Romanian Jewish descent, and the first Jewish Brazilian member of the Court. He was previously a minister of the Superior Court of Justice before assuming his position at the Supreme Court.
The Judiciary of Puerto Rico is defined under the Constitution of Puerto Rico and consists of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, Court of Appeals, and the Court of First Instance consisting of the Superior Courts and the Municipal Courts.
The superior courts of justice, or high courts of justice, are courts within the judicial system of Spain, whose territorial scope covers an autonomous community, as laid down in the Organic Law of Judicial Power.
The Court of Justice of São Paulo is the judicial branch of the Government of São Paulo. Its head office is in the capital and it has jurisdiction across the state.
The Judiciary of Mexico, officially the Judicial Power of the Federation, is one of the three branches of government in Mexico, and the sole federal judiciary power. It is composed of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, which serves as its highest court, the Federal Judiciary Council, the Federal Electoral Tribunal, regional courts, circuit and appellate collegiate courts, and district courts. In October 2024, Mexico became the only legal system in the world where its judges would be elected by popular vote.
This glossary contains Brazilian terms related to criminal or corruption investigations, and supporting concepts from politics, the law, government, criminology, and law enforcement.
The Brazilian criminal justice system comes from the civil law of Western Europe, in particular Portuguese law, which derives from Roman law. The earliest legal documents in Brazil were land grants and charters dating to the early 16th century, which continued to be used until independence in 1822. Various basic principles of law are enshrined in the 1988 Constitution, such as the principle of legality and the principle of human dignity.
