Judiciary

The judiciary, also referred to as the judicature, consists of the system of courts of law for the administration of justice and to its principals, the justices, judges and magistrates among other types of adjudicators. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, it is one of the three branches of government. The primary function of the judiciary is to adjudicate legal disputes. The judiciary is also responsible for interpreting the law in somelegal systems; in

Related Topics:
Justice - Judge - Magistrate - Adjudicators - Separation of powers - Government - Law

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• Common law jurisdictions, this is a fundamental principle; case law is created by the courts' interpretations;
• civil law jurisdictions, courts interpret the law, but are, at least in theory, prohibited from creating law, and thus, still in theory, do not issue rulings more general than the actual case to be judged; in practice, jurisprudence plays the same role as case law;
• 'Socialist' law, the primary responsibility for interpreting the law belongs not to the judiciary but to the legislature.

This difference can be seen by comparing the United States, France and the People's Republic of China:

Related Topics:
United States - France - People's Republic of China

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• in the United States Federal Government, the Supreme Court is the final authority on the interpretation of the law;
• in France, the final authority on the interpretation of the law is the Conseil d'État for administrative cases, and the Court of Cassation for civil and criminal cases;
• in the PRC, the final authority on the interpretation of the law is the National People's Congress.
 
Judiciary: Differences between civil, socialist and common law ►