Ordinary court or judicial court is a type of court with comprehensive subject-matter jurisdiction compared to 'specialized court' with limited jurisdiction over specific field of matters, such as intellectual property court. Due to its comprehensive feature, ordinary courts usually deal with civil case and criminal case, and treated as core part of conventional judiciary. [1] Especially for common law countries, the term superior court is used for courts with general jurisdiction (regardless of instance level in chain of appellate procedure), compared to courts with limited jurisdiction over minor, petty cases such as small claims court .
Sometimes, the term ordinary court is referred to courts with regular procedure or composition, compared to an extraordinary court with irregular procedure or composition. [2]
In France, ordinary courts ( French : ordre judiciaire) are courts under TITLE VIII of Constitution of France [3] separated from administrative courts and constitutional court. These ordinary courts mainly deals with civil and criminal cases, and are composed of judges called 'magistrates ( French : Magistrat )' educated from French National School for the Judiciary, while judges composing administrative court and constitutional court are usually not trained in French National School for the Judiciary. Chain of ordinary court's hierarchy inside French judiciary has Court of Cassation as their highest court. [4]
In Germany, ordinary courts are explained as courts with 'ordinary jurisdiction ( German : Ordentliche Gerichtsbarkeit )', compared to special jurisdictions such as administrative, labour, social security, and fiscal law. Though each of these five jurisdictions including ordinary jurisdiction has its own highest court (usually translated as 'Federal Courts', German : Bundesgericht), all of jurisdictions share same route of legal education and training for Judges. The Federal Court of Justice is highest court of chain of ordinary court's hierarchy. Under ordinary jurisdiction, Federal Patent Court is established as lower court of Federal Court of Justice concerning intellectual property matters. [5]
It is notable that court rulings from each of Federal Courts cannot be appealed, yet can be reviewed as constitutional complaint ( German : Urteilsverfassungsbeschwerde) in Federal Constitutional Court, which is outside of chain of ordinary court's hierarchy, concerning specific issues on constitutionality of such ruling. [6]
In South Korea, ordinary courts ( Korean : 일반법원) are founded by Chapter V, Article 101 of Constitution of South Korea and 'Court Organization Act', [7] separated from Military courts ( Korean : 군사법원 by Chapter V, Article 110) and Constitutional Court ( Korean : 헌법재판소 by Chapter VI, Article 111). [8] These ordinary courts are usually referred to merely as 'Court' ( Korean : 법원), and have Supreme Court of Korea as their highest court. Inside chain of ordinary court's hierarchy, there are lower courts with specialized jurisdictions, such as family court, administrative court, patent court [9] and bankruptcy court according to Article 3(1) of the Act. [7] Unlike Germany, whether rulings from ordinary courts can be reviewed as constitutional complaint remains as controversy in South Korea. [9]
Administrative law is a division of law governing the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law includes executive branch rule making, adjudication, and the enforcement of laws. Administrative law is considered a branch of public law.
The judiciary of Germany is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in Germany.
The judiciary of Australia comprises judges who sit in federal courts and courts of the States and Territories of Australia. The High Court of Australia sits at the apex of the Australian court hierarchy as the ultimate court of appeal on matters of both federal and State law.
The judicial system of Turkey is defined by Articles 138 to 160 of the Constitution of Turkey.
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 Constitutional Court of Korea is one of the highest courts—along with the Supreme Court—in South Korea's judiciary that exercises constitutional review, seated in Jongno, Seoul. The South Korean Constitution vests judicial power in courts composed of judges, which establishes the ordinary-court system, but also separates an independent constitutional court and grants it exclusive jurisdiction over matters of constitutionality. Specifically, Chapter VI Article 111(1) of the South Korean Constitution specifies the following cases to be exclusively reviewed by the Constitutional Court:
The Supreme Court of Korea is the highest ordinary court in the judicial branch of South Korea, seated in Seocho, Seoul. Established under Chapter 5 of the Constitution of South Korea, the Court has ultimate and comprehensive jurisdiction over all cases except those cases falling under the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court of Korea. It consists of fourteen Justices, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Korea. The Supreme Court is at the top of the hierarchy of all ordinary courts in South Korea, and traditionally represented the conventional judiciary of South Korea. The Supreme Court has equivalent status as one of the two highest courts in South Korea. The other is the Constitutional Court of Korea.
The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Korea is the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Korea. As presiding judge of the grand bench composed of two-thirds of fourteen Supreme Court justices, the chief represents the Supreme Court of Korea. The chief justice is regarded as one of two equivalent heads of judicial branch in Government of South Korea. Another head is the president of the Constitutional Court of Korea. The current chief justice of the Supreme Court of Korea is vacant and Supreme Court Justice Ahn Chul-sang is acting as the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Korea.
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 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.
Specialized court is a type of court with limited subject-matter jurisdiction concerning particular field of law, compared to 'ordinary court' with general subject-matter jurisdiction. This concept of court usually includes administrative court or family court.
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the Kingdom of Spain. The court has original jurisdiction over cases against high-ranking officials of the Kingdom and over cases regarding the legalization of political parties. It also has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all cases. The Court has the power of judicial review, except for the judicial revision on constitutional matters, reserved to the Constitutional Court.
The judiciary of Malta interprets and applies the laws of Malta, to ensure equal justice under law, and to provide a mechanism for dispute resolution. The legal system of Malta is based partially on English law and partly on Continental law, whilst also being subject to European Union law.
The Judiciary of Brazil is the group of public entities designated by the Brazilian constitution to carry out the country's judicial functions.
The judiciary of Italy is composed of courts and public prosecutor offices responsible for the administration of justice in the Italian Republic. These offices are occupied by judges and prosecutors respectively, who are known as magistrates. Magistrates belong to the magistracy, that is to say a branch of the State that may only be accessed by Italian citizens, who must hold an Italian Juris Doctor and successfully partake in one of the relevant competitive public examinations organised by the Ministry of justice.
The law of Cyprus is a legal system which applies within the Republic of Cyprus. Although Cypriot law is extensively codified, it is still heavily based on English common law in the sense that the fundamental principle of precedent applies.
The Judiciary of Armenia interprets and applies the laws of Armenia. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, judiciary exercises judicial power separately from the legislative power of Parliament and executive power of the Prime Minister. Per the Constitution, it is defined with a hierarchical structure regulated by the Supreme Judicial Council of Armenia. On the other hand, the Ministry of Justice of Armenia is a government agency which possesses executive authority and executes policies of the Government of Armenia in sectors that are closely associated with laws and regulations.
The judiciary of South Korea is the judicial branch (사법부) of South Korean central government, established by Chapter 5 and 6 of the Constitution of South Korea.
Rapporteur Judge or Rapporteur-Judge is a term for number of judicial officials similar to judicial assistant at highest court, usually functioning as rapporteur while having status equivalent to lower ordinary court judges.
An extraordinary court, or special court, is a type of court that is established outside of ordinary judiciary, composed of irregularly selected judges or applies irregular procedure for judgment. Since extraordinary court can be abused to infringe fundamental rights of individuals, contemporaly most of countries ban such courts by constitution or statutes. Usually, modern military courts judged by courts-martial are regarded as examples of extraordinary courts.