Judiciary of Caphiria

The Judiciary of Caphiria represents the judicial branch of the national government of Caphiria. The Ministry of Justice administers and oversees its overall judicial system. Caphiria has a court system divided into two broad categories - national and local - with five primary courts (prima atrium legis) and several special courts (solutus atrium legis). National courts generally have jurisdiction over all civil and criminal matters triable in the judicial system, whereas local courts are restricted to minor civil matters involving amounts of money up to $1,000,000 and also the majority of criminal and summary prosecutions.

At the apex of the national judicial hierarchy is the Supreme Court (Tribunalis Ultima) which operates independently from the Ministry of Justice. Under the Supreme Court are the intermediate appellate courts - the Court of Appeals - and the primary criminal trial courts called District Courts. At the local level, there are Provincial courts which have authority and original jurisdiction of a single province and is responsible for two jurisdictional orders, civil and criminal. The lowest level court are the prefectural courts, which mostly handle small claims civil cases as well as minor criminal infractions.

The Ministry of Justice handles the administration of courts and judiciary, including paying salaries and constructing new courthouses. The Ministry of Justice also oversees the correctional system of Caphiria. Lastly, the Ministry of Justice receives and processes applications for national pardons and proposes legislation dealing with matters of civil or criminal justice. The Ministry of Justice arranges the album judicum - a list of every licensed jurist eligible for judging cases in a lawful court - and decides on the time and place of sessions in every Caphirian court of law. It also serves as the backbone for all of the Imperium's provincial and municipal court systems. Each provincial government possesses its own provinciarum judex, or provincial judge, who is subservient to the Ministry of Justice. While provincial judges have some leniency with their rulings and interpretations of the law, they are bound to the interpretation of law from the Ministry of Justice as a whole, meaning any ruling in one province will immediately affect the others. Excluding the Supreme Court, every judge and member of the Ministry of Justice is elected alongside every other member of the government each lustrum.