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The judicial system of Syria is a synthesis of Ottoman, French, and Islamic laws. [1] The civil, commercial and criminal codes are primarily based on the French legal practices. [1] Promulgated in 1949, those laws have special provisions sanctioned to limit application of customary law among beduin and religious minorities. [1] The Islamic religious courts continue to function in some parts of the country, but their jurisdiction is limited to issues of personal status, such as marriage, divorce, paternity, custody of children, and inheritance. [1] Nonetheless, in 1955 a personal code pertaining to many aspects of personal status was developed. [1] This law modified and modernized sharia by improving the status of women and clarifying the laws of inheritance. [1]
The appointment, transfer and dismissal of judges is handled by the High Judicial Council. [1] The council is composed of senior civil judges and chaired by the president. [1] The independence of the judiciary is guaranteed by president in his role as chairman of the High Judicial Council, according to Article 131 of the constitution. [1] Article 133 stipulates that judges be autonomous and subject to no authority other than the law. [1]
The Syrian judicial system is composed of the civil and criminal courts, military courts, security courts, and religious courts, which adjudicate matters of personal status such as divorce and inheritance. [2]
The Court of Cassation, sitting in Damascus, is the highest court of appeals. [1] It has the authority to resolve judicial issues. [2] Below the Court of Cassation are courts of appeal, and at the lowest level are courts of first instance, designated variously as magistrate courts, summary courts, and peace courts. [1] Also at the basic level were juvenile and other special courts and an administrative tribunal known as the Council of State. [1]
The Supreme Constitutional Court was established under the 1973 Constitution to adjudicate electoral disputes, rule on the constitutionality of a law or decree challenged by the president or People's Council, and to render opinions on the constitutionality of bills, decrees, and regulations when requested to do so by the president; it does not hear appeals. [1] The High Constitutional Court is forbidden, however, to question the validity of the popularly approved "laws submitted by the President of the Republic to popular referendums". [1] The court consists of the president and four judges he appoints to serve a renewable term of four years. [1]
Civil and criminal courts are organized under the Ministry of Justice. [2] Defendants before these courts are entitled to the legal representation of their choice; the courts appoint lawyers for indigents. [2] Defendants are presumed innocent; they are allowed to present evidence and to confront their accusers. [2] Trials are public, except for those involving juveniles or sex offenses. [2] Defendants may appeal their verdicts to a provincial appeals court and ultimately to the Court of Cassation. [2] Such appeals are difficult to win because the courts do not provide verbatim transcripts of cases—only summaries prepared by the presiding judges. [2] There are no juries. [2]
Military courts have the authority to try civilians as well as military personnel. [2] The venue for a civilian defendant is decided by a military prosecutor. [2] There were continuing reports that the Government operates military field courts in locations outside established courtrooms. [2] Such courts reportedly observe fewer of the formal procedures of regular military courts. [2]
The two security courts are the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), which tries political and national security cases, and the Economic Security Court (ESC), which tries cases involving financial crimes. [2] Both courts operate under the state of emergency, not ordinary law, and do not observe constitutional provisions safeguarding defendants' rights. [2] The SSSC was abolished by President Bashar al-Assad by legislative decree No. 53 on 21 April 2011 [3] and was replaced by the Counter-Terrorism Court.[ citation needed ]
The Court of Cassation is the supreme court for civil and criminal cases in France. It is one of the country's four apex courts, along with the Council of State, the Constitutional Council and the Jurisdictional Disputes Tribunal.
The Judiciary of Russia interprets and applies the law of Russia. It is defined under the Constitution and law with a hierarchical structure with the Constitutional Court and Supreme Court at the apex. The district courts are the primary criminal trial courts, and the regional courts are the primary appellate courts. The judiciary is governed by the All-Russian Congress of Judges and its Council of Judges, and its management is aided by the Judicial Department of the Supreme Court, the Judicial Qualification Collegia, and the Ministry of Justice, and the various courts' chairpersons. And although there are many officers of the court, including jurors, the Prosecutor General remains the most powerful component of the Russian judicial system.
The Supreme Court of the Netherlands, officially the High Council of the Netherlands, is the final court of appeal in civil, criminal and tax cases in the Netherlands, including Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Aruba. The Court was established on 1 October 1838 and is located in The Hague.
The judicial system of Turkey is defined by Articles 138 to 160 of the Constitution of Turkey.
French law has a dual jurisdictional system comprising private law, also known as judicial law, and public law.
The judicial system of Egypt is an independent branch of the Egyptian government which includes both secular and religious courts.
In Greece, the Special Highest Court, is provided for in the article 100 of the Constitution of Greece. It is not a permanent court and it sits only when a case belonging to its special competence arises. It is regarded as the supreme "constitutional" and "electoral" court of Greece. Its decisions are irrevocable and binding for all the courts, including the Supreme Courts. However, the Special Highest Court does not have an hierarchical relation with the three Supreme Courts. It is not considered higher than these courts and it does not belong to any branch of the Greek justice system.
The Court of Cassation of Belgium is the supreme court of the Belgian judiciary. The court is composed of thirty judges with life tenure who are nominated by the High Council of Justice of Belgium and appointed by the Belgian federal government. The court handles cases in the two main languages of Belgium, Dutch and French, and provides certain facilities for cases in German. The court is assisted in its work by a public prosecutor's office and a bar association, which both function separately from other structures. The duty of the public prosecutor's office is to provide advisory opinions to the court on how the law ought to be interpreted and applied. The attorneys of the court's bar association assist litigants in proceedings before the court; in certain cases, their assistance is mandatory.
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, and highcourt of appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court 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.
The Supreme Court of Cassation is the final court of appeal in the Republic of Bulgaria. Its work is governed by the Constitution of 1991. According to Article 124, it exercises supreme judicial power over the application of the law in all courts. The Supreme Court of Cassation may even overturn a final decision by a lower court. It also takes part in the appointment of judges for the Constitutional Court. The Supreme Court of Cassation, however, does have to hand cases over to the Constitutional Court when it finds a contradiction between the laws and the Constitution of the Republic. If a question of constitutionality arises, the court may refer it to the Constitutional Court.
The legal system of Azerbaijan is based on civil law. As the country was a republic of the Soviet Union until 1991, its legal history has also been influenced heavily by socialist law. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan became independent by enactment of the constitutional act of national independence on October 18, 1991. Azerbaijan started reformation of the legal system by the establishing of democratic reforms. This was followed by the adoption of the first Constitution in 1995 which is the foundation of the legislative system of the modern country. The Constitution creates the system of presidential republic with a separation of powers among the Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches of the government in order to prevent abuse of power.
The current judiciary of Niger was established with the creation of the Fourth Republic in 1999. The constitution of December 1992 was revised by national referendum on 12 May 1996 and, again, by referendum, revised to the current version on 18 July 1999. It is an inquisitorial system based on the Napoleonic Code, established in Niger during French colonial rule and the 1960 constitution of Niger. The Court of Appeals reviews questions of fact and law, while the Supreme Court reviews application of the law and constitutional questions. The High Court of Justice (HCJ) deals with cases involving senior government officials. The justice system also includes civil criminal courts, customary courts, traditional mediation, and a military court. The military court provides the same rights as civil criminal courts; however, customary courts do not. The military court cannot try civilians.
Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria whereby the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Syria has a legislative council with 250 members. The country has been in a civil war since 2011 against various domestic and foreign forces that oppose both the Syrian government and each other, in varying combinations. The seat of the government is located in Damascus, Syria.
The Supreme Court, earlier known as the Supreme Court of Cassation, is the court of last resort in the Republic of Serbia. It is the court of cassation which reviews and possibly overturns previous rulings made by lower courts. It was established in 1846 by a decree of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević. In the last 160 years since it was established, the Court has asserted its authority within judiciary in Serbia and beyond. The Supreme Court is today authorized by the Constitution of Serbia and the Law on Organization of Courts.
The judiciary of Italy is a system of courts that interpret and apply the law in the Italian Republic. In Italy, judges are public officials and, since they exercise one of the sovereign powers of the State, only Italian citizens are eligible for judgeship. In order to become a judge, applicants must obtain a degree of higher education as well as pass written and oral examinations. However, most training and experience is gained through the judicial organization itself. The potential candidates then work their way up from the bottom through promotions.
The Supreme Court of the Republic of Albania is the highest court of Albania and is the final court of appeals in the country's judicial system. It is composed of seventeen judges: the Chief Justice and sixteen Members.
The Judiciary of Bahrain is the court system of Bahrain. It is divided into three branches: the Civil Law Courts, the Criminal Law Courts and the Shari'a Law Courts. The Civil Law Courts deal with all commercial, civil, as well disputes related to the personal status of non-Muslims. The Shari’a Law Courts have jurisdiction over all issues related to the personal status of Muslims.
The judiciary of Luxembourg comprises a number of courts.
The Supreme Court of the Dominican Republic is the highest court existing in the Republic and is, therefore, the head of the judiciary in the country.
The legal system of Sudan has evolved over time. The legacy of British colonial rule has had a significant impact even after independence. Most of the lawyers and judges were British trained and initially tended to rely on judicial precedent. Soon after independence, however, pressure began to build to change the legal system. By the time Jaafar Nimeiry seized power in 1969, a commission had been working on recommendations for a new system, but he dissolved it and formed another commission dominated by 12 Egyptian jurists. Based on recommendations received from them, Sudan adopted a new civil code that looked much like the Egyptian civil code of 1949. The new system was controversial because it disregarded existing laws and customs and introduced many new legal terms and concepts from Egyptian law without source material to interpret the codes. In 1973 the government repealed these codes and returned the legal system to its pre-1970 common-law status. In 1977 Nimeiry agreed to consider a Muslim Brotherhood demand that the system be based on Islam. He appointed al-Turabi as chairman of a committee to draft new Islamic laws. Nimeiry accepted few of the proposals from this committee. He then established a small, new group in 1983 that developed a “cut-and-paste” version of sharia laws based on practice in other countries. In September 1983, Nimeiry issued several decrees, known as the September Laws, which made sharia the law of the land.
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