Courts and Judiciary on ExcellentWiki - Legal Encyclopedia

Chinese Court System

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Constitutional Framework and the Organic Law of the People’s Courts

The court system of the People’s Republic of China is constituted under the Organic Law of the People’s Courts, first adopted in 1979 and substantially revised in 2018. The Constitution of 1982 (as amended) provides in Article 128 that the people’s courts are the judicial organs of the state and exercise judicial power independently, subject to the requirement that they are “not subject to interference by administrative organs, social organizations, or individuals.” The tension between this constitutional declaration of judicial independence and the constitutional principle of the Chinese Communist Party’s leadership over all state work (Article 1 of the Constitution, amplified in the Party Constitution) is the central structural characteristic of the Chinese judiciary.

Court of Justice of the European Union

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Establishment and Constitutional Foundations

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) is the judicial institution of the European Union, headquartered in the Kirchberg district of Luxembourg. It was established in 1952 under the Treaty of Paris establishing the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and has been carried forward through successive treaties: the Treaty of Rome (1957), the Single European Act (1986), the Treaty of Maastricht (1992), the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997), the Treaty of Nice (2001), and the Treaty of Lisbon (2007). The CJEU currently operates under the provisions of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), as amended by Lisbon.

Court System of England and Wales

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Unified Court Structure and the Constitutional Reform Act 2005

The court system of England and Wales operates as a unified structure following the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, which fundamentally restructured the judicial architecture of the United Kingdom. The Act created the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, replacing the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords, and reformed the office of Lord Chancellor, transferring the Lord Chancellor’s judicial functions to the Lord Chief Justice. It also established the Judicial Appointments Commission, creating a transparent, merit-based appointment process independent of executive control.

French Court System

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Principle of Dual Jurisdiction

The French court system is organized around a fundamental structural distinction unknown to common law systems: the separation of the judicial order (ordre judiciaire) and the administrative order (ordre administratif). This dual jurisdiction reflects the French revolutionary tradition that courts should not interfere with the administration — a principle derived from the Law of 16–24 August 1790, which forbade judicial courts from reviewing administrative acts. The result is two entirely separate hierarchies: one for private law and criminal law, culminating in the Court of Cassation (Cour de Cassation), and another for public law, culminating in the Council of State (Conseil d’État).

German Court System

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Constitutional Framework and the Five Pillars of Justice

The German court system is structured on principles set forth in the Basic Law (Grundgesetz, GG), adopted in 1949 as the constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany. Article 92 GG vests the judicial power in the Federal Constitutional Court, in the federal courts provided for by the Basic Law, and in the courts of the Länder (the sixteen federal states). A distinctive feature of the German system is the division of jurisdiction into five specialized court systems, each with its own hierarchy culminating in a federal supreme court. Article 95 GG establishes the five supreme courts: the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) for ordinary civil and criminal matters, the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht), the Federal Finance Court (Bundesfinanzhof), the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht), and the Federal Social Court (Bundessozialgericht). Where these courts disagree on a fundamental question of law, the Joint Senate of the Supreme Courts (Gemeinsamer Senat der obersten Gerichtshöfe) resolves the conflict.

Russian Court System

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Constitutional Foundations and the 2014 Judicial Reform

The Russian court system is governed by the Constitution of the Russian Federation adopted by referendum on 12 December 1993 and by the Federal Constitutional Law on the Judicial System of the Russian Federation (No. 1-FKZ, 31 December 1996). The 1993 Constitution established the basic principles of judicial organization: the administration of justice exclusively by courts (Article 118), the independence of judges (Article 120), the irremovability of judges (Article 121), and the immunity of judges (Article 122). It also established the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court as the highest judicial bodies.

United States Federal Court System

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Constitutional Foundation: Article III

The federal court system of the United States derives its authority from Article III of the Constitution, which establishes a single Supreme Court and empowers Congress to ordain and establish inferior courts. Article III § 1 provides that federal judges “shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour,” a phrase universally understood to confer life tenure subject to removal only through impeachment. The same section guarantees that judicial compensation “shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.” Together, life tenure and salary protection constitute the structural guarantees of judicial independence that Alexander Hamilton defended in Federalist No. 78 as “the citadel of the public justice and the public security.”