1

Comparative Analysis Judiciary

Comparative Analysis Judiciary

Great Britain
- No judicial review (the courts ability to determine actions, laws, and other court
decisions unconstitutional) due to the principle of parliamentary sovereignty
(parliaments decisions are final)
- Common law; distinguish between original (think of trial courts where the judges
hear the case for the first time) and appellate (upper courts reviewing the decisions of
lower courts) jurisdiction
- Supreme Court created in 2009 to replace law lords as the highest judicial authority;
consists of a president and 11 justices appointed by a panel of lawyers
- Can nullify government action if deemed to exceed powers granted by an act of
parliament but cannot declare an act of parliament unconstitutional
- Judges expected (but not required, I suppose) to retire at age 75
- Judges also determine whether or not EU laws conflict with parliamentary laws

Russia
- No independent judiciary under USSR or Russia in practice
- Constitutional Court created by Constitution of 1993 as an attempt to create an
independent judiciary with power to challenge the constitutionality of laws and
official actions of executive and legislative bodies (i.e., judicial review but only in
theory)
- Supreme Court also created to serve as final court of appeals with 19 members
appointed by president and confirmed by Federation Council; no judicial review
- Jury trial, but no presumption of innocence
- No rule of law, plagued by corruption and power of security police

China
- Four-tiered peoples court system, organized as the peoples congresses
- peoples procuratorate provides public prosecutors and defenders to the courts
- Rule of law unimportant under Mao but after 1978 new legal institutions and ideas
developed due to economic development; rule of law established in China
- Conviction rate of more than 99%! Thousands executed.
- No judicial review
2

Comparative Analysis Judiciary
Mexico
- No independent judiciary; no judicial review
- Code law; Constitution of 1917 still in effect but heavily amended
- Both state and federal courts but most laws are federal
- Supreme Court the highest court, never overrules an important government action
- Courts controlled by executive; judges appointed for life but in practice resign at the
beginning of each sexenio
- Calderon reform package included oral trials; courts perceived as corrupt

Iran
- Judiciary headed by a chief justice, who is a cleric, appointed by the supreme leader
for a 5-year term; chief justice oversees the appointment and removal of judges
- Supreme Court is the highest court of appeals and its judges are also clerics
- Sharia law (Islamic law) supersedes all types of laws, including quanun (statues made
by Majles)
- Under the principle of jurists guardianship, supreme leader and Guardian Council
have the final say in interpreting laws
- Judicial review exists, but sharia is the ultimate authority, not the Constitution
- After the 1979 revolution, Retribution Law (blood money for victims families and
death penalty for adultery, homosexuality, drug dealing, alcoholism, etc.) passed but
harsh corporal punishments often not carried out

Nigeria
- A lot of autonomy in the early days of independence
- British common law combined with traditional law, including sharia in the north
- Judicial review suspended under military dictators and their cronies appointed as
judges
- Judicial review now exists in theory
- Court structures at both federal and state levels, with Supreme Court as the highest
court in the land
- Sharia courts exist side by side with courts based on the British model
- Judiciary deemed more independent now and rule of law taken more seriously, as
evidenced by its power to remove officials and procedures followed with respect to
the election irregularities associated with YarAdua