The judiciary

Like legislators and executives, judges are (1) __________; and courts, like legislatures and administrative agencies, promulgate rules of behaviour having the nature of law. The process of judicial decision making, or adjudication, is distinctive, however, for (2) ______________, and it employs formal procedures that contrast with those of parliamentary or administrative bodies.

Established court systems are found in all advanced political systems. Usually there are two judicial hierarchies, (3) _______________, a lesser number at the level of the province or the region, and one or more courts at the national level. This is the pattern of judicial organization in Britain, for example. In some countries—for example, in France—although there is a double hierarchy, the distinction is not between courts dealing with criminal cases and other courts dealing with civil cases but rather between (4) _____________. Reflecting the federal organization of its government, the United States has two court systems: (5) ______________. By contrast, Germany, which is federal in governmental organization, possesses only a single integrated court system.

Local courts are found in all systems and are usually of two types. The first type deals with petty offenses and may include a traffic court, a municipal court, a small-claims court, and a court presided over by a justice of the peace or a local magistrate. The second type, sometimes called trial courts, are courts of first instance in which most cases of major importance are begun. These are the state superior courts in the United States, the county courts and quarter sessions in Britain, the tribunal de grande instance in France, and the district courts, or Landgerichte, in Germany. In some systems there is a level above the local court, (6) _________________. Courts of appeal review the procedures and the law in the lower court and, in some instances, return the case for a new trial. In all systems there are national supreme courts (7) _____________. Outside the regular court systems, there are sometimes found specialized judicial tribunals, (8) ____________.

A those that handle all civil and criminal cases and those that deal with administrative cases or challenges to the administrative authority of the state

B major participants in the policy-making process

C usually referred to as assize courts, in which exceptionally serious crimes, such as homicide, are tried

D it is concerned with specific cases in which an individual has come into conflict with society by violating its norms or in which individuals have come into conflict with one another

E that hear appeals and exercise original jurisdiction in cases of the greatest importance, such as those involving conflict between a state and a national government

F one dealing with civil and the other with criminal cases, each with a large number of local courts

G such as administrative courts, or courts of claims that deal with special categories of cases

H one set of national courts and 50 sets of state courts