Introduction to Judicial Systems

The courts form the third branch of government, and the judicial power they exercise is a crucial element of political stability in society. The courts provide a channel through which disputes among citizens, or disputes between the state and its citizens, can be settled in a peaceful and authoritative manner.

Although one speaks of "the judiciary" or "the courts" as if they were one unified body, in reality any political system has a variety of judicial tribunals that collectively form the judicial branch of government. Usually there is one final "Court of Appeal" or "Supreme Court" (which can have many different names around the world). In some political systems, however, there may be separate appeal courts to deal with criminal, civil, constitutional, or religious matters.

CANADIAN COURT SYSTEM 

You can find out about the structure and responsibilities of the many different types of courts in Canada by reading the following brief descriptions of Canada's Court System provided by the Justice Department of Canada. You can also read the Justice Department's overview of Canada's System of Justice.

The Supreme Court of Canada provides you with some information about the role, history and membership of the court. The full text of the Supreme Court of Canada's decisions since 1989 are available on the Internet, too.

Most senior trial and appeal courts in Canada now provide the full text of their decisions on the Internet: 


Juries play an important role in many trials. To find out more read "A Guide to Jury Duty" by the Public Legal Education Society of Nova Scotia.

For more details on Canada, connect to the Canadian Legal System page of Nelson's Canadian Politics on the Web.

 

UNITED STATES 

The U.S. government maintains a central site on Federal Courts, from which you can link to many other sites. Included in the material is an interesting set of documents which provide a broad overview of the American judicial system, Understanding the Federal Courts.

Find out who the current members of the Supreme Court of the United States are, and read the full text of the Court's decisions on the Web.

The Federal Court Locator is from the Villanova Center for Information, Law, and Policy. You will find a wide range of links and a clickable map, to federal courts across the U.S. The National Center for State Courts provides links to State Court web sites.

The Bureau of Justice Statistics provides a range of information about the U.S. criminal justice system.

The United States Sentencing Commission provides another useful insight into the U.S. judicial system, with information on the process and patterns of sentencing.

 

OTHER FOREIGN COURTS 

A committee of the House of Lords acts as the highest court for most legal issues in Great Britain. The full text of judicial decisions made by the Law Lords since November 1996 is available on the Internet. To find out more about the British judiciary, visit the Court Service.

The decisions of the High Court of Australia are available on-line.

The text of recent decisions of the South African Constitutional Court are also provided on-line. The decisions of the  Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa are also available. 

 

INTERNATIONAL COURTS AND INTERNATIONAL LAWS 

Visit the United Nations International Law site for links to a variety of information about UN legal documents and judicial tribunals. For information about international law and links to broader collections of international legal documents, visit the Legal Information Institute at Cornell University.  International trade law and related dispute-resolution tribunals are dealt with extensively at Lex Mercatoria. 

International Court of Justice is under the UN umbrella and deals with disputes between states. It also may provide legal opinions on matters referred to it by various international organs and agencies.  Other courts have been created in recent years to deal with prosecutions against individuals or groups who have engaged in crimes against humanity.  Two tribunals have been created to deal with crimes in specific countries and are currently in operation:

The International Criminal Court is the subject of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court which as adopted in 1998 and came into force in July 2002.

The European Court of Justice acts as a supra-national court for members of the European Union.

The European Court of Human Rights settles claims made by individuals under the European Convention on Human Rights and other rights documents of the European Union.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights was created by the Organization of American States to deal with claims made under the American Convention on Human Rights and related OAS documents. 

 

JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE 

A key principle in any properly functioning court system is that of judicial independence. Judicial independence is intended to foster impartiality in judicial decision making. This allows judges to decide their cases without interference or fear of retribution from either the executive or legislature. 

For some Canadian context, read Judicial Independence and Judicial Governance in the Provincial Courts , written by Peter J. McCormick for the Canadian Association of Provincial Court Judges.

Two very important decision dealing with judicial independence and judicial salaries in Canada have been delivered by the Supreme Court of Canada: Reference re: Provincial Judges [1997] and the Provincial Court Judges decision [2005].

The Chief Justices of the Australian States and Territories have issued a Declaration of Principles on Judicial Independence.

U.S. Judge Cynthia Hall gave an interesting interview on protecting judicial independence in the U.S.

See also the Madrid Principles on the Relationship between the Media and Judicial Independence.

Unlike Canada, where all our judges are appointed, some countries have an elected judiciary.  For an understanding of some of the issues involved, read "A Personal Reflection on Judicial Elections" by the Honorable Judith Ann Lanzinger, who is a judge in the Lucas County Court of Common Pleas in Toledo, Ohio.  However, in "Alberta Judicial Elections," John Eamon argues forcefully that judicial elections would undermine judicial independence in Canada.

A United Nations document makes an interesting connection between human rights and judicial independence.