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186-646: The Constitutional Court of South Africa is the supreme constitutional court established by the Constitution of South Africa , and is the apex court in the South African judicial system, with general jurisdiction . The Court was first established by the Interim Constitution of 1993, and its first session began in February 1995. It has continued in existence under the Constitution of 1996 . The Court sits in

372-486: A conflict involving the new state of Israel , the rise of petroleum politics , the continuing prominence but later decline of Arab nationalism , and the growth of Islamism . The first supranational organizations of government, such as the United Nations and European Union, emerged during the period after 1945. Countercultures rose and the sexual revolution transformed social relations in western countries between

558-424: A decline in birth rates in the industrialized world, which had multiple second-order effects. Many regions have also made divorce much easier to officially procure. However, the decline in birth rate is not a universal trend; many nations continue to have high birth rates , and the world's overall population is still growing as of 2022. One of the yet evolving and unknown impacts in the contemporary era has been

744-511: A federal system of government may have both a federal supreme court (such as the Supreme Court of the United States ), and supreme courts for each member state (such as the Supreme Court of Nevada ), with the former having jurisdiction over the latter only to the extent that the federal constitution extends federal law over state law . However, other federations, such as Canada, may have

930-401: A "web of data". With the rise of information technology, computer security , and information security in general, is a concern for computers and networks. Concerns include information and services which are protected from unintended or unauthorized access, change or destruction. This has also raised questions of Internet privacy and personal privacy globally. The Space Race was one of

1116-639: A 12-year term limit; those who did not, have a longer tenure. The same section extends the retirement age to 75. However, in terms of section 3(2)(b), if the judge has already been a judge (in any court) for 15 years by the time they reach the age of 65, they may voluntarily retire. ( Chief Justice of South Africa ) 60 (Chief Justice) Supreme Court of Appeal Raymond Zondo (as Deputy Chief Justice and Chief Justice) (Acting Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa ) Supreme Court of Appeal Supreme Court of Appeal Supreme Court of Appeal Supreme Court of Appeal Competition Appeal Court The judgments of

1302-467: A combination of genuine popularity and legal rollbacks, Russia gradually moved toward being a one-party state , a democracy but one where Putin's party always won. Russia has since intervened in a variety of military conflicts in its neighboring countries including the 2008 Russo-Georgian War ; the 2014 Russo-Ukrainian War and Annexation of Crimea ; a 2015 intervention in the Syrian Civil War ; and

1488-453: A commanding large slice of the sources of energy. Even if diminished, coal is still a popular and common style of power plant; it made up a huge proportion of South Africa and India's power grid from 1945 to the present, for example. That said, increasing price, as well as concerns both over the air pollution generated when it is burnt and the landscape destruction when it is mined (such as mountaintop removal mining ), have caused setbacks for

1674-533: A constitutional nature from Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Azad Kashmir has its own courts system and the constitution of Pakistan does not apply to it as such; appeals from Azad Kashmir relate to its relationship with Pakistan. The provinces have their own courts system, with the High Court as the apex court, except insofar as where an appeal can go to the Supreme Court as mentioned above. The Supreme Court of

1860-457: A court of last resort, with the right of appeal to the Privy Council being abolished. The idea of a supreme court owes much to the framers of the Constitution of the United States . It was while debating the division of powers between the legislative and executive departments that delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention established the parameters for the national judiciary. Creating

2046-622: A duty of judicial review, and which can strike down legislation as being in conflict with the Constitution. As with France, administrative cases are ruled by the Council of State . In Japan , the Supreme Court of Japan is called 最高裁判所 (Saikō-Saibansho; called 最高裁 Saikō-Sai for short), located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is the highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority within Japan to interpret

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2232-448: A further hearing on its own judgment. In a matter on which the Supreme Court has ruled – whether as a court of appeals or as the High Court of Justice – with a panel of three or more justices, it may rule at a further hearing with a panel of a larger number of justices. A further hearing may be held if the Supreme Court makes a ruling inconsistent with a previous ruling or if the Court deems that

2418-526: A general outline of the judiciary, vesting of federal judicial power in "one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish". They delineated neither the exact powers and prerogatives of the Supreme Court nor the organization of the Judicial Branch as a whole. In jurisdictions using a common law system, the doctrine of stare decisis applies, whereby

2604-471: A large disincentive to burn oil except when absolutely necessary (such as in the case of aviation fuel ), although oil continues to be one of the most popular sources of energy. Other fossil fuels have continued a prominent role in the world's energy production. Coal energy , usually credited as helping kickstart the Industrial Revolution , has declined somewhat in prominence, but it started from

2790-764: A lesser extent, during the Cold War, something similar happened with the Russian language in the Eastern Bloc and among communist-aligned factions; however, this status was mostly reversed after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The French and German languages saw their prestige as global languages decline after World War II. Religious trends have been disparate and not consistent across countries, often with sharply varying results even between similar and nearby groups. In industrialized and economically prosperous regions, there has been

2976-540: A loose trend toward secularization that deprioritized the role of religion, even among people who still identified as adherents. The decline of Christianity in the Western world has been perhaps the most notable of these trends, although many non-Western cultures have been affected as well, such as the rise of irreligion in China (buttressed by antireligious campaigns ). As an example of how localized this process can be, during

3162-544: A majority and written reasons are given. The movement for the establishment of a constitutional court in South Africa was begun in 1920 by the African National Congress (ANC). By 1956, judges and liberals in the country had drawn up a bill of rights in support of the creation of the court. The first meeting of selected members of the court took place in 1994. In 1995, President Nelson Mandela appeared at

3348-664: A member of the Non-Aligned Movement . British India was granted independence in 1947 without an outright war of independence being required. It was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan ( West Pakistan and East Pakistan , future Pakistan and Bangladesh ); Indo-Pakistani wars were fought in 1947, 1965, and 1971. Sukarno took control of an independent Indonesia in 1950, as attempts to reinstate Dutch rule in 1945–1949 had largely failed, and took an independent-to-Eastern leaning stance. He would later be overthrown by Suharto in 1968, who took

3534-583: A new and different court was introduced to judge them in place of normal courts, the Justice Court of the Republic ( Cour de Justice de la République ). It has since been highly criticized and is scheduled for deletion in a constitutional amendment due for 2019. In Germany , there is no de jure single supreme court. Instead, cases are decided in the final instance by one of five federal high courts (see below), depending on their nature. Final interpretation of

3720-567: A phenomenon called the Japanese economic miracle . Many explanations are proffered for the enviable results of these years: relative peace (at least outside the " Third World "); a reduction in average family size; technological improvements; and others. The Eastern Bloc, meanwhile, established Comecon as their equivalent to the Marshall Plan and to establish internal trading rules between communist states. The 1970s saw economic headwinds. Notably,

3906-544: A policy of perestroika in the 1980s which allowed tentative market reforms. The fall of the USSR saw differing approaches in the 1990s in the East: some newly independent states went in a capitalist direction such as Estonia , some maintained a strong governmental presence in their economy, and some opted for a mix. The privatization of government firms and resources drew accusations of crony capitalism in many states, however, including

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4092-586: A pro-Western stance. The Federation of Malaya was granted independence in 1957, with the concurrent fighting of the Malayan Emergency against communist forces from 1948–1960. The French unsuccessfully fought the First Indochina War in an attempt to hold on to French Indochina ; at the 1954 Geneva Conference , the new states of Cambodia , Laos , the Democratic Republic of Vietnam , and

4278-609: A second €130-billion Greek bailout. In 2013, the European Union agreed to a €10 billion economic bailout for Cyprus. The 2020 coronavirus pandemic caused economic disruption, with wide-ranging economic impacts of COVID-19 such as supply chain changes and an increase in working-from-home, along with the COVID-19 recession . Social changes since 1945 have been vast and disparate, affecting countries and subgroups within those countries in ways specific to each population, meaning there

4464-616: A separate "third branch" of government was a novel idea; in the English tradition, judicial power is just one aspect of the sovereign authority of the Crown . It was also proposed in the Constitutional Convention that the judiciary should have a role in checking the executive power to exercise a veto or to revise laws. In the end, the Framers of the Constitution compromised by sketching only

4650-730: A series of Yugoslav Wars ; NATO eventually intervened in the Kosovo War . In the Middle East, the Israeli–Palestinian peace process offered the prospect of a long-term peace deal to many; the Oslo Accords signed in 1993 seemed to offer a "roadmap" to resolving the conflict . Despite these high hopes, they would be largely dashed in 2000–2001 after a breakdown of negotiations and the Second Intifada . The September 11 attacks were

4836-678: A series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on 11 September 2001. On that morning, nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners . The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed

5022-459: A sharp drop in international trade , rising unemployment and slumping commodity prices. The recession renewed interest in Keynesian economic ideas on how to combat recessionary conditions. However, various industrial countries continued to undertake austerity policies to cut deficits , reduced spending , as opposed to following Keynesian theories. From late 2009 European debt crisis , fears of

5208-927: A shuttle: the Challenger disaster and the Columbia disaster ). The program ultimately had 135 missions. The retirement of NASA's Space Shuttle fleet took place from March to July 2011. The end of the Cold War saw a new era of international cooperation with the International Space Station (ISS). Commercial spaceflight also became possible as governments loosened what had previously been their firm control over satellites, opening new possibilities, but also new risks such as light pollution from satellites . The Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program began in 2006. There are various spaceports , including spaceports of human spaceflight and other launch systems ( space logistics ). Private spaceflight

5394-686: A significant marketing feature through the early 2000s (decade), was similarly displaced by emphasis on relevancy ranking, the methods by which search engines attempt to sort the best results first. " Web 2.0 " is characterized as facilitating communication, information sharing , interoperability , User-centered design and collaboration on the World Wide Web . It has led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services , and web applications . Examples include social-networking sites , video-sharing sites , wikis , blogs, mashups and folksonomies . Social networking emerged in

5580-445: A source of vast revenue that did not require traditional government revenue-raising measures, such as tariffs or income taxation. The rising cost of oil led to the 1970s energy crisis and various adaptations in energy conservation to better conserve oil, such as more efficient engines and better insulation. It has also led to concerns of " peak oil ," that the rising extraction costs of oil will eventually lead to massive shortages and

5766-560: A sovereign debt crisis developed among investors concerning rising government debt levels across the globe together with a wave of downgrading of government debt of certain European states. Concerns intensified early 2010 and thereafter making it difficult or impossible for sovereigns to re-finance their debts. On 9 May 2010, Europe's Finance Ministers approved a rescue package worth €750 billion aimed at ensuring financial stability across Europe. The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF)

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5952-520: A supreme court of general jurisdiction, able to decide any question of law. Jurisdictions with a civil law system often have a hierarchy of administrative courts separate from the ordinary courts , headed by a supreme administrative court (such as the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland , for example). A number of jurisdictions also maintain a separate constitutional court or other judicial or quasi-judicial body (first developed in

6138-634: A third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia . The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania , after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane. In response, the United States under President George W. Bush enacted the Patriot Act . Many other countries also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. Major terrorist events after

6324-622: A third of the members of the body concerned may apply to the Constitutional Court to give a ruling. Similarly, the President or the Premier of a Province may refer a bill to the Court for a decision on its constitutionality before assenting to that Bill. The Court does not hear evidence or question witnesses. It does not decide directly whether accused persons are guilty or whether damages should be awarded to an injured person. These are matters for

6510-475: A vast increase in demand for energy development , both to power vehicles such as personal cars as well as on public electrical grids . In particular, petroleum oil has been in ravenous demand across the world. Many of the cheapest and easiest sources of oil to access were largely drained in the 19th and early 20th centuries, leading to a hunt for new sources of oil. The value of oil has spilled over into politics as well, as " petrostates " with access to oil found

6696-471: A war. In East Asia, Chiang Kai-shek 's Republic of China was overthrown in the Chinese Communist Revolution from 1945–1949. His government retreated to Taiwan , but both the nationalist KMT government and the new communist mainland government under Mao Zedong continued to claim authority over all of China. Korea was divided similarly to Germany, with the Soviet Union occupying

6882-491: A way that was less true in the 20th century. For example, diaspora groups of immigrants can more easily stay in contact with their family and friends in their origin region, compared to earlier eras where travel and communication was far more expensive, making a narrative of strictly increasing global homogenization incomplete. International telephone networks, and later Internet telephony, allowed cheaper and easier long-distance communication than previous eras. Language usage in

7068-564: A whole would become known as the Cold War . The Western Bloc formed NATO in 1949 while the Eastern Bloc formed the Warsaw Pact in 1955. Direct combat between the new Great Powers was generally avoided, although proxy wars fought in other countries by factions equipped by one side against the other side's faction occurred. An arms race to develop and build nuclear weapons happened as policymakers wanted to ensure their side had more if it came to

7254-505: Is also charged with the review of administrative acts on whether they violate constitutionally guaranteed rights. Other than that, administrative acts are reviewed by the Administrative Court ( Verwaltungsgerichtshof ). The Supreme Court ( Oberste Gerichtshof (OGH) ), stands at the top of Austria's system of " ordinary courts " ( ordentliche Gerichte ) as the final instance in issues of private law and criminal law . In Brazil ,

7440-583: Is banned from testing legislation against the constitution, pursuant to the principle of the sovereignty of the States-General; the court can, however, test legislation against treaties such as the European Convention on Human Rights . Next to the Hoge Raad, in administrative law there are also other highest courts of appeal. Which highest court has jurisdiction in this field of law depends on the subject of

7626-470: Is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme Court itself. The Israeli supreme court is both an appellate court and the high court of justice. As an appellate court, the Supreme Court considers cases on appeal (both criminal and civil) on judgments and other decisions of the District Courts. It also considers appeals on judicial and quasi-judicial decisions of various kinds, such as matters relating to

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7812-472: Is by way of the " question préjudicielle " (prejudicial question). The Court of last resort for civil and criminal proceedings is the " Cour de cassation ". For administrative proceedings the highest court is the " Cour administrative " (Administrative Court). The supreme court of Macau is the Court of Final Appeal ( Portuguese : Tribunal de Última Instância ; Chinese : 澳門終審法院 ), though like Hong Kong,

7998-500: Is convened only when one high court intends to diverge from another high court's legal opinion. As the courts have well-defined areas of responsibility, situations like these are rather rare and the Joint Senate gathers very infrequently. The Supreme Court of Iceland ( Icelandic : Hæstiréttur Íslands , lit . Highest Court of Iceland ) was founded under Act No. 22/1919 and held its first session on 16 February 1920. The Court holds

8184-539: Is divided among three judicial bodies: When there is jurisdictional dispute between judicial and administrative courts: the Court of Arbitration ( Tribunal des conflits ), which is empanelled half from the Court of Cassation and half from the Council of State and presided over by the Minister of Justice , is called together to settle the dispute or hand down a final decision. The High Court ( Haute Cour ) exists only to impeach

8370-656: Is flight beyond the Kármán line that is conducted and paid for by an entity other than a government agency. Commercialization of space is the use of equipment sent into or through outer space to provide goods or services of commercial value, either by a corporation or state. Space trade plans and predictions began in the 1960s. Spacecraft propulsion is any method used to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites . NASA announced in 2011 that its Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured photographic evidence of possible liquid water on Mars during warm seasons. On 6 August 2012,

8556-419: Is heavily linked to the concept of a Digital Age or Digital Revolution , and carries the ramifications of a shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based around the manipulation of information. The period is generally said to have begun in the latter half of the 20th century, though the particular date varies. The term began its use around

8742-757: Is in the interests of justice for it to do so. The Constitutional Court consists of eleven judges who are appointed by the President of South Africa from a list drawn up by the Judicial Service Commission . The judges serve for a term of twelve years. The Court is headed by the Chief Justice of South Africa and the Deputy Chief Justice . The Constitution requires that a matter before the Court be heard by at least eight judges. In practice, all eleven judges hear almost every case. Decisions are reached by

8928-771: Is not named the "Supreme Court", for example, the High Court of Australia . On the other hand, in some places the court named the "Supreme Court" is not in fact the highest court; examples include the New York Supreme Court , the supreme courts of several Canadian provinces/territories , and the former Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales and Supreme Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland , which are all subordinate to higher courts of appeal. Some countries have multiple "supreme courts" whose respective jurisdictions have different geographical extents, or which are restricted to particular areas of law. Some countries with

9114-427: Is not one single global story of social change. Despite this, one of the major trends has been an increasing interchange between cultures and a wider spread of the most successful works, enabled by new technology and globalization . In earlier periods, a successful musician or theater troupe might be confined to playing in a single city at a time, limiting their reach. The spread of better recording technology, such as

9300-503: Is often called the "Soviet Union's Vietnam War" in comparison to the American defeat, being an expensive and ultimately unsuccessful war and occupation. More importantly, the intervening decades had seen that Eastern Europe was unable to compete economically with Western Europe, which undermined the promise of communist abundance compared to capitalist poverty. The Western capitalist economies had proven wealthier and stronger, which made matching

9486-542: Is the court of last resort of electoral law , and also oversees general elections . The Superior Military Court ( Tribunal Superior Militar ) is the highest court in matters of federal military law . In Croatia , the supreme jurisdiction is given to the Supreme Court , which secures a uniform application of laws. The Constitutional Court exists to verify constitutionality of laws and regulations, as well as decide on individual complaints on decisions on governmental bodies. It also decides on jurisdictional disputes between

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9672-534: Is the highest court in Nigeria. The Supreme Court mainly regulates in disputes between states and/or the federal government. Another power of the Supreme court rests in its authority to oversee any decisions over presidential elections and term lengths. The Supreme Court has been the apex court for Pakistan since the declaration of the republic in 1956 (previously the Privy Council had that function). The Supreme Court has

9858-501: Is usually impossible to connect specific weather events to human impact on the world. Instead, such impact is expected to cause changes in the overall distribution and intensity of weather events, such as changes to the frequency and intensity of heavy precipitation. Broader effects are expected to include glacial retreat , Arctic shrinkage , and worldwide sea level rise . Other effects may include changes in crop yields , addition of new trade routes, species extinctions , and changes in

10044-645: The Bundesarbeitsgericht (Federal Labour Court) for employment and labour, the Bundesfinanzhof (Federal Fiscal Court) for taxation and financial issues, and the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court) for administrative law. The so-called Gemeinsamer Senat der Obersten Gerichtshöfe (Joint Senate of the Supreme Courts) is not a supreme court itself, but an ad-hoc body that

10230-553: The 1964 Brazilian coup d'état , the 1973 Chilean coup d'état , and others. Nicaragua suffered the most, with the Nicaraguan Revolution seeing major military aid from both great powers to their favored factions that extended a civil war in the country for decades. Mexico escaped this unrest, although functioned largely as a one-party state dominated by the PRI . Argentina had a succession of idiosyncratic governments that courted both

10416-604: The American occupation ended in 1952 , although a treaty of mutual aid with the US was soon signed. The US also granted the Philippines their independence in 1946 while keeping close relations. The Middle East became a hotbed of instability. The new Jewish state of Israel declared its independence, recognized by both the United States and the Soviet Union, after which followed the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . Egypt's weak and ineffective king Farouk

10602-585: The Appellate Court . In addition, an agreement between Nauru and Australia in 1976 provides for appeals from the Supreme Court of Nauru to the High Court of Australia in both criminal and civil cases, with the notable exception of constitutional cases. In New Zealand , the right of appeal to the Privy Council was abolished following the passing of the Supreme Court Act (2003). A right of appeal to

10788-739: The Basic Law , its constitution, the territory remains a common law jurisdiction. Consequently, judges from other common law jurisdictions (including England and Wales ) can be recruited and continue to serve in the judiciary according to Article 92 of the Basic Law. On the other hand, the power of interpretation of the Basic Law itself is vested in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) in Beijing (without retroactive effect), and

10974-415: The Bretton Woods system , a set of practices that governed world trade and currencies from 1945–1971, as well as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Western Europe also established the European Economic Community in 1957 to ease customs and aid international trade. In general, vast quality of life improvements affected most every corner of the globe during this period, in both

11160-446: The Court of Cassation of Armenia is the highest court in Armenia , except in the sphere of constitutional justice, in which the Constitutional Court of Armenia maintains authority. In Austria , the Austrian Constitution of 1920 (based on a draft by Hans Kelsen ) introduced judicial review of legislative acts for their constitutionality . This function is performed by the Constitutional Court ( Verfassungsgerichtshof ), which

11346-402: The Cuban Missile Crisis in 1963, generally considered one of the incidents most dangerously close to turning the Cold War into a direct military conflict. The 1968 Peruvian coup d'état and also installed a Soviet-friendly government. Despite this, the region ultimately leaned toward the US in this period, with the CIA supporting American-friendly factions in the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état ,

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11532-481: The Czech Republic was one of the most stridently irreligious , with only 15% of its population espousing any religious beliefs at all by 2011. In the Islamic world , a notable trend has been the spread of international schools of thought into regions where belief was previously localized, such as the International propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism funded by the government of Saudi Arabia . While regional Islamic groups remain strong, they are more contested than in

11718-478: The Czechoslovak Constitution of 1920 ), such as Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Russia, Spain and South Africa. Within the former British Empire , the highest court within a colony was often called the "Supreme Court", even though appeals could be made from that court to the United Kingdom 's Privy Council (based in London). A number of Commonwealth jurisdictions retain this system, but many others have reconstituted their own highest court as

11904-399: The High Courts and the Supreme Court of Appeal , deal with day-to-day disputes between citizens and between citizens and the state. The Constitutional Court has a special responsibility to parliament and the provincial legislatures. If there is a dispute in parliament or in a provincial legislature concerning whether or not legislation that has been passed and assented to is constitutional,

12090-481: The House of Lords was the ultimate court in addition to being a legislative body , and the Lord Chancellor , with legislative and executive functions, was also a senior judge in the House of Lords. The Supreme Court of the United States , established in 1789, is the highest federal court in the United States . It has final appellate powers over the federal court system , and can perform judicial review in matters involving US federal law (which applies to all

12276-466: The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan to depose the Taliban , who had harbored al-Qaeda terrorists. The War in Afghanistan began in late 2001 and was launched by the UN-authorized ISAF , with the United States and United Kingdom providing most of the troops. The Bush administration policy and the Bush Doctrine stated forces would not distinguish between terrorist organizations and nations or governments that harbor them. Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)

12462-415: The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division is a lower court, not a supreme court. The titles for judicial officeholders can cause confusion, even within the same jurisdiction. In Texas , the posts of Justice, Judge, and Justices of the Peace are members of successively lower levels of courts. The Roman law and the Corpus Juris Civilis are generally held to be the historical model for civil law. From

12648-417: The North Yemen civil war from 1962 to 1970. Decolonization was the most important development across Southeast Asia and Africa from 1946–1975, as the old British, French, Dutch, and Portuguese colonial empires were dismantled. Many new states were given their independence, but soon found themselves having to choose between allying with the Western Bloc, Eastern Bloc, or attempting to stay neutral as

12834-422: The President and Vice-President of the Republic . The Superior Court of Justice ( Superior Tribunal de Justiça ) reviews State and Federal Circuit courts decisions for civil law and criminal law cases, when dealing with federal law or conflicting rulings. The Superior Labour Court ( Tribunal Superior do Trabalho ) reviews cases involving labour law . The Superior Electoral Court ( Tribunal Superior Eleitoral )

13020-458: The President of the French Republic in case of "breach of his duties patently incompatible with his continuing in office". Since a constitutional amendment of 2007, the French Constitution states that the High Court is composed of all members of both Houses of Parliament. As of 2023, it has never been convened. While the President is not , members of the French government are subject to the same laws as other French citizens. However, since 1993,

13206-424: The Revolutions of 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The latter stages and aftermath of the Cold War enabled the democratization of much of Europe, Africa, and Latin America. Decolonization was another important trend in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa as new states gained independence from European colonial empires during the period from 1945–1975. The Middle East also saw

13392-768: The Scotland Act 1998 , Government of Wales Act and Northern Ireland Act were also transferred to the new Supreme Court by the Constitutional Reform Act, from the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . The Supreme Court shares its members and accommodation at the Middlesex Guildhall in London with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which hears final appeals from certain smaller Commonwealth realm countries, admiralty cases, and certain appeals from

13578-573: The Six-Day War in 1967 and the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Under Anwar Sadat and later Hosni Mubarak , Egypt switched from Nasserism to favoring the Western Bloc, and signed a peace treaty with Israel. Lebanon, once among the most prosperous countries in the region and a cultural center, collapsed into the decade-long Lebanese Civil War from 1975–1990. Iran's unpopular pro-American government

13764-561: The Soviet Union , meant that many calcified into place. Countries in Soviet zones of Eastern Europe had communist regimes installed as satellite states . The Berlin Blockade of 1948 led to a Western Airlift to preserve West Berlin and signified a cooling of East-West relations. Germany split into two countries in 1949, liberal-democratic West Germany and communist East Germany . The conflict as

13950-630: The Standard Model of quantum field theory . The first commercial computers were created, followed by the Internet, beginning the Information Age . In 1945, the Allies of World War II had defeated all significant opposition to them. They established the United Nations to govern international relations and disputes. A looming question was how to handle the defeated Axis nations and the shattered nations that

14136-439: The Supreme Court of Hong Kong (now known as the High Court of Hong Kong ) was the final court of appeal during its colonial times which ended with transfer of sovereignty in 1997. The final adjudication power, as in any other British Colonies, rested with the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (JCPC) in London, United Kingdom. Now the power of final adjudication is vested in the Court of Final Appeal created in 1997. Under

14322-527: The Supreme Federal Court ( Supremo Tribunal Federal ) is the highest court. It is both the constitutional court and the court of last resort in Brazilian law. It only reviews cases that may be unconstitutional or final habeas corpus pleads for criminal cases. It also judges, in original jurisdiction , cases involving members of congress , senators , ministers of state, members of the high courts and

14508-461: The ecclesiastical courts and statutory private jurisdictions, such as professional and academic bodies. (The Constitutional Reform Act also renamed the Supreme Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland to the Court of Judicature , and the rarely cited Supreme Court of Judicature for England and Wales as the Senior Courts of England and Wales ). The Supreme Court was set up in 2009; until then

14694-504: The magnetophon , meant that a musical act could have their song be played over the radio everywhere without loss of sound quality, creating international superstars such as Elvis Presley and The Beatles . The spread of home television sets allowed people across the globe to easily watch the same show, rather than requiring viewers to attend a local theater. Hollywood in California produced films that dominated cinema; while intended for

14880-744: The natural environment and human life are, at least in part, already being attributed to global warming. A 2001 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggests that glacier retreat , ice shelf disruption such as that of the Larsen Ice Shelf , sea level rise , changes in rainfall patterns, and increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events are attributable in part to global warming. Other expected effects include water scarcity in some regions and increased precipitation in others, changes in mountain snowpack, and adverse health effects from warmer temperatures. It

15066-572: The price of oil started to go up in the 1970s, as the easiest and most accessible wells had already been pumped dry in the preceding century, and oil is a non-renewable resource. Attention was drawn to the abundant oil in the Middle East, where countries in OPEC controlled substantial untapped oil reserves. Political tensions over the Yom Kippur War and the Iranian Revolution led to the 1973 oil crisis and 1979 oil crisis . The Soviet Union called it

15252-609: The " Era of Stagnation ". The 1970s and 80s also saw the rise of the Four Asian Tigers , as South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong emulated the Japanese route to prosperity with varying degree of success. In China, the leftist Gang of Four were overthrown in 1976, and Deng Xiaoping pursued a policy of tentatively opening the Chinese economy to capitalist innovations throughout the 1980s, which would be continued by his successors in

15438-512: The 1950s proved overly optimistic, however. Atomic energy grew to be a large part of several nations energy generation strategies, especially nuclear power in France . Nuclear power continues to be controversial. Concerns include its association with nuclear weapons , financial cost , disposal of radioactive nuclear waste , and fears of safety from reactor meltdowns , especially after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster . An anti-nuclear movement arose that

15624-412: The 1960s and 1980s, as seen in the protests of 1968 . Living standards rose sharply across the developed world because of the post-war economic boom . Japan and West Germany both emerged as exceptionally strong economies. The culture of the United States spread widely, with American television and movies spreading across the world. Some Western countries began a slow process of deindustrializing in

15810-586: The 1970s and 80s, the US took a new approach with the Space Shuttle program , hoping to reduce the cost of launches by creating a re-usable Space Shuttle. The first fully functional Space Shuttle orbiter was Columbia (designated OV-102), launched into low Earth orbit in April 1981. In 1996, Shuttle mission STS-75 conducted research in space with the electrodynamic tether generator and other tether configurations. The program suffered from two incidents that destroyed

15996-573: The 1970s; globalization led to the emergence of new financial and industrial centers in Asia. The Japanese economic miracle was later followed by the Four Asian Tigers of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan . China launched major economic reforms from 1979 onward, becoming a major exporter of consumer goods around the world. Science made new advances after 1945, which included spaceflight , nuclear technology , lasers , semiconductors , molecular biology , genetics , particle physics , and

16182-514: The 1990s. China's economy, tiny in 1976, would see tremendous growth, and eventually take the spot as second largest economy from Japan in 2010. Among Western economies, the collapse of the Bretton Woods system was replaced by a more flexible era of floating exchange rates. The Group of Seven (G7) first met in 1975 and become one of the main international forums that regulated international trade among developed country . The Soviet Union implemented

16368-635: The Axis had conquered. Following the Yalta Conference , territory was divided into zones for which Allied country would have responsibility and manage rebuilding. While these zones were theoretically temporary (such as the eventual fate of occupied Austria , which was released to independence as a neutral country), growing tensions between the Western Bloc , led by the United States, with the Eastern Bloc , led by

16554-717: The Cold War both the Polish People's Republic and the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic endorsed state atheism . However, after the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989–1990, the people of these bordering states had radically different cultural attitudes toward religion; Poland was one of the more religious states in Europe, with 96% of its population espousing a belief in Catholic Christianity in 2011, while

16740-477: The Constitution and decide questions of national law (including local bylaws). It has the power of judicial review (i.e., it can declare Acts of Diet and Local Assembly, and administrative actions, unconstitutional). In Luxembourg , challenges on the conformity of the law to the Constitution are brought before the Cour constitutionnelle (Constitutional Court). The most used and common procedure to present these challenges

16926-525: The Constitution, the Judiciary Act , and the High Court of Australia Act 1979. It is composed of seven Justices: the Chief Justice of Australia , currently Stephen Gageler AC , and six other Justices. They are appointed by the Governor-General of Australia on the advice of the federal government, and under the constitution must retire at age 70. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh is created by

17112-514: The European Union with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993, which integrated Europe across borders to a new degree. International coalitions continued to have a role; the Gulf War saw a large international coalition undo Baathist Iraq's annexation of Kuwait, but other "police" style actions were less successful. Somalia and Afghanistan descended into long, bloody civil wars for almost

17298-648: The German Constitution, the Grundgesetz , is the task of the Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court), which is the de facto highest German court, as it can declare both federal and state legislation ineffective. In addition, it has the power to overrule decisions of all other courts, despite not being a court of appeals in the German court system. It is also the only court possessing

17484-605: The Iraqi Government. Despite government assumptions that the war in Iraq would be over with the fall of Hussein, it continued and intensified. Sectarian groups both fought each other and the occupying coalition forces via asymmetric warfare during the Iraqi insurgency , as Iraq was starkly divided between Sunni, Shia, and Kurdish groups that now competed with each other for power. Al-Qaeda operations in Iraq continued as well. In late 2008,

17670-701: The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity , the most elaborate Martian exploration vehicle to date, landed on Mars. After the WMAP observations of the cosmic microwave background , information was released in 2011 of the work done by the Planck Surveyor , estimating the Age of the universe to 13.8 billion years old (a 100 million years older than previously thought). Another technological advancement came in 2012 with European physicists statistically demonstrating

17856-586: The North and the United States occupying the South (future North Korea and South Korea ). Unlike Germany, the conflict there turned hot, as the Korean War erupted from 1950–1953. Korea was not reunified under either government, however, due to strong support from both the US and China for their favored side; it became a frozen conflict instead. Japan was given a new constitution foreswearing aggressive war in 1947, and

18042-471: The Privy Council remains for criminal cases which were decided before the Supreme Court was created, but it is likely that the successful appeal by Mark Lundy to the Privy Council in 2013 will be the last appeal to the Board from New Zealand. The new Supreme Court of New Zealand was officially established at the beginning of 2004, although it did not come into operation until July. The High Court of New Zealand

18228-465: The Russian Federation, the largest and most important state of the USSR; the beneficiaries of the turbulent period were often called the " Russian oligarchs ". In the beginning of the 2000s, there was a global rise in prices in commodities and housing, marking an end to the 2000s commodities boom . The US mortgage-backed securities, which had risks that were hard to assess, were marketed around

18414-484: The September 11 attacks include the 2002 Bali bombings , the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis , the 2003 Istanbul bombings , the 2004 Madrid train bombings , the 2004 Beslan school siege , the 2005 London bombings , the 2005 Delhi bombings , and the 2008 Mumbai attacks , generally from Islamic terrorism . The United States responded to the 11 September 2001 attacks by launching a "Global War on Terrorism", invading

18600-501: The Soviet defense budget to the American one strain limited resources. The Pan-European Picnic in 1989 then set in motion a peaceful chain reaction with the subsequent fall of the Berlin Wall . The Revolutions of 1989 saw many countries of Eastern Europe throw off their communist governments, and the USSR declined to invade to re-establish them. East and West Germany were reunified . Client state status for many states ended, as there

18786-515: The Soviets deteriorated in the 1960s and 70s, resulting in the Sino-Soviet split , although the two were able to cooperate on some matters. " Ping-pong diplomacy " led to a rapprochement between the US and China and American recognition of the Chinese communist government in the 1970s. China's pro-democracy movement was suppressed after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests , and China's government survived

18972-564: The U.S. and Iraqi governments approved a Status of Forces Agreement effective through to the end of 2011. The Obama administration re-focused US involvement in the conflict on the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq and a surge of troops and government support in Afghanistan. In May 2011, the bin Laden raid occurred after bin Laden was tracked to his compound in Abbottabad , Pakistan. In 2011,

19158-564: The US and USSR, but generally mismanaged the economy. The Middle East saw events that presaged later conflicts in the 70s and 80s. A few years after the end of the UAR's union between Egypt and Syria, Syria's government was overthrown in the 1966 Syrian coup d'état and replaced with the Neo-Baathist Party, eventually leading to the leadership of the Al-Assad family . Israel and its neighbors fought

19344-711: The United Kingdom is the ultimate court for criminal and civil matters in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and for civil matters in Scotland. (The supreme court for criminal matters in Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary .) The Supreme Court was established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 with effect from 1 October 2009, replacing and assuming the judicial functions of the House of Lords . Devolution issues under

19530-554: The United States and the United States dollar took a pivotal role in the world economy , displacing the UK. The era is sometimes called " Pax Americana " for the relative liberal peace in the Western world, resulting from the preponderance of power enjoyed by the US, as a comparison to the Pax Romana established at the height of the Roman Empire. New York's financial sector (" Wall Street ") was

19716-505: The United States declared a formal end to the Iraq War . In February 2020, President Donald Trump agreed with the Taliban to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan over the next year. The Biden administration delayed the withdrawal by a few months, but still largely kept to the deal; the coalition-supported Afghan government soon collapsed, and the Taliban took undisputed control of

19902-522: The United States in 2007, was sparked by the outbreak of the 2007–2008 financial crisis . The modern financial crisis was linked to earlier lending practices by financial institutions and the trend of securitization of American real estate mortgages. The Great Recession spread to much of the developed country , and has caused a pronounced deceleration of economic activity. The global recession occurred in an economic environment characterized by various imbalances. This global recession has resulted in

20088-401: The Western and Eastern spheres. France called them Les Trente Glorieuses ("The Glorious Thirty [Years]"). Despite being largely destroyed in the war, West Germany soon bounced back to being an economic powerhouse by the 1950s with the wirtschaftswunder . Surprisingly, Japan followed Germany, achieving incredible economic growth and becoming the second largest economy in the world in 1968,

20274-448: The age of 70, whichever is earlier; but these limits may be extended by an Act of Parliament. Section 4 of the Judges' Remuneration and Conditions of Employment Act 47 of 2001 has extended the term limit to an effective term of 15 years including prior service on other courts. The effect is that judges who had served more than 3 years before their appointment to the Constitutional Court retain

20460-533: The basis that the SCA made "hurtful" imputations about them. The Constitutional Court had already held, in 2012, that it could not hear appeals in the Hlophe matter and that any SCA judgment was final. Official website Supreme court Civil law states tend not to have a single highest court. Some federations, such as the United States, also do not have a single highest court. The highest court in some jurisdictions

20646-532: The case. The most important of these courts is the Department of Justice of the Council of State (Afdeling Bestuursrechtspraak van de Raad van State). In Portugal , there are several supreme courts, each with a specific jurisdiction: Until 2003, a fifth supreme court also existed for the military jurisdiction, this being the Supreme Military Court ( Supremo Tribunal Militar ). Presently, in time of peace,

20832-441: The center of the financial world from 1945–1970 in a dominant way unlikely to be seen again. Unlike the aftermath of World War I, the US strongly aided in the rebuilding of Europe, including aid to the defeated Axis nations, rather than punishment. The Marshall Plan sent billions of dollars of aid to Western Europe to ensure its stability and ward off a potential economic downturn. The 1944 Bretton Woods Conference established

21018-555: The city of Johannesburg . After initially occupying commercial offices in Braamfontein , it now sits in a purpose-built complex on Constitution Hill . The first court session in the new complex was held in February 2004. Originally the final appellate court for constitutional matters, since the enactment of the Seventeenth Amendment of the Constitution in 2013, the Constitutional Court has jurisdiction to hear any matter if it

21204-422: The coal industry. Natural gas has grown in its proportion of the market, especially as Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has enabled it to be transported over longer distances than was previously feasible. An entirely new form of energy creation dawned in the 1950s and 1960s: nuclear power for peaceful purposes and the construction of nuclear power plants . Hopes that atomic energy would be " too cheap to meter " in

21390-458: The complaint related to four matters in which either Thint (Pty) Ltd or the Deputy President, Jacob Zuma , was involved. Judge Hlophe was reported to have rejected the allegations as "utter rubbish" and as "another ploy" to damage his reputation. Justices Chris Jafta and Bess Nkabinde had been the primary complainants and had supported the Court's complaint. Six years later, however, when

21576-765: The constitution but its further appellate jurisdiction from lower courts is defined by law. The Irish Supreme Court consists of its presiding member, the Chief Justice, and seven other judges. Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President in accordance with the binding advice of the Government. The Supreme Court sits in the Four Courts in Dublin . In Nauru , there is no single highest court for all types of cases. The Supreme Court has final jurisdiction on constitutional matters, but any other case may be appealed further to

21762-508: The contemporary era has seen a rise in English as a lingua franca , where people across the world learn the English language as a second language . This has been both to facilitate international communication, especially in places tied to international trade or tourism, as well as to better consume widespread English-language media. This is tied to increased Americanization , as American culture has grown increasingly influential and widespread. To

21948-466: The contemporary era. Wind energy , while used on a small scale for centuries, has seen growth with large distributed groups of windmills used to produce energy for the grid. Solar power has also grown in prominence, with around 4% of the world's overall energy production in 2021 (compared to a much smaller slice before). While these energy sources are considered to be much less environmentally impactful than fossil fuels , concerns have been raised over

22134-655: The country in August 2021 after the successful 2021 Taliban offensive . The Arab Spring began in earnest in 2010 with anti-government protests in the Muslim world , but quickly escalated to full-scale military conflicts in countries like Syria , Libya , and Yemen and also gave the opportunity for the emergence of various militant groups including the Islamic State (IS). The IS was able to take advantage of social media platforms including Twitter to recruit foreign fighters from around

22320-449: The court are based on the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land. They enforce the basic rights and freedoms of all persons. They are binding on all organs of government, including the parliament, the presidency, the police force, the army, the public service and all courts. This means that the Court has the power to declare an Act of Parliament null and void if it conflicts with the Constitution and to control executive action in

22506-415: The court to deliver a speech for its commissioning. According to South African History Online Mandela said, "The last time I appeared in court was to hear whether or not I was going to be sentenced to death. Fortunately for myself and my colleagues we were not. Today I rise not as an accused, but on behalf of the people of South Africa, to inaugurate a court South Africa has never had, a court on which hinges

22692-404: The courts are authorised to interpret the Basic Law when trying cases, in accordance with Article 158 of the Basic Law. This arrangement became controversial in light of the right of abode issue in 1999, raising concerns for judicial independence. The Supreme Court of India was created on January 28, 1950 after adoption of the Constitution . Article 141 of the Constitution of India states that

22878-759: The creation of states such as First Nigerian Republic in 1963. Portugal, on the other hand, fiercely held onto their Empire, leading to the Portuguese Colonial War from 1961–1974 in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, and Mozambique until the Estado Novo government fell. Meanwhile, apartheid-era South Africa remained fiercely anti-communist, but withdrew from the British Commonwealth in 1961, and supported various pro-colonial factions across Africa that had lost support from their "home" governments in Europe. Many of

23064-419: The decisions of the supreme court usually provide a very strong precedent, or jurisprudence constante , for both itself and all lower courts. The High Court of Australia is the supreme court in the Australian court hierarchy and the final court of appeal in Australia . It has both original and appellate jurisdiction , the power of judicial review over laws passed by the Parliament of Australia and

23250-506: The development optimistically; it was thought the world was steadily progressing toward free, liberal democracies. South Africa, no longer able to attract Western support by claiming to be anti-communist, ended apartheid in the early 1990s, and many Eastern European countries switched to stable democracies. While some Americans had anticipated a "peace dividend" from budget cuts to the Defense Department, these cuts were not as large as some had hoped. The European Economic Community evolved into

23436-401: The early 21st century as a popular social communication, largely replacing much of the function of email, message boards and instant messaging services. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are all major examples of social websites that gained widespread popularity. The information distribution continued into the early 21st century with mobile interaction and Internet access growing massively in

23622-462: The early 21st century. By the 2010s, a majority of people in the developed world had Internet access and a majority of people worldwide had a mobile phone. Marking the rise of mobile computing , worldwide sales of personal computers fall 14% during the first quarter of 2013. The Semantic Web (dubbed, "Web 3.0") begins the inclusion of semantic content in web pages, converting the current web dominated by unstructured and semi-structured documents into

23808-562: The ease in enabling like-minded people to collaborate at long-distance, even if the digital utopianism of the 1990s is less common. Pessimistic assessments worry about the effects on children such as enabling cyberbullying ; filter bubbles where Internet users are not challenged by outsider views; " cancel culture " where people are pilloried online but sometimes disproportionately; and slacktivism as an appealing but ineffective replacement for older forms of community work. The growing world population and rising standards of living has caused

23994-466: The entirety of the decade ( Somali Civil War , Afghan Civil War (1992–1996) , Afghan Civil War (1996–2001) ). Russia fought a brutal war in Chechnya that failed to suppress the insurgency there from 1994–1996; war would resume during the Second Chechen War in 1999–2000 that saw a resumption of Russian control after Russia successfully convinced enough rebels to join their cause with promises of autonomy. The breakup of Yugoslavia also led to

24180-498: The eventual Republic of Vietnam were created. The division of Indochina eventually led to the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s (as well as the Laotian Civil War and Cambodian Civil War ), which ended in communist North Vietnam took over Sai Gon in 1975. In Africa, France fought the grinding Algerian War from 1954–1962 that saw the end of French Algeria and the rise of a new independent Algeria . The British and French both slowly released their vast holdings, leading to

24366-431: The existence of the Higgs boson . Climate change and global warming reflects the notion of the modern climate . The changes of climate over the past century, have been attributed to various factors which have resulted in a global warming. This warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its projected continuation. Some effects on both

24552-468: The expansion of the Russo-Ukrainian War to the full-fledged Russian invasion of Ukraine where Russia declared their intent to depose the Ukrainian government and install a compliant, Russia-friendly government. The Russian government has often cited the enlargement of NATO as a major complaint . The end of World War II in 1945 saw an increase in international trade and an interconnected system of treaties and agreements to ease its flow. In particular,

24738-442: The final say on matters of constitutional law, federal law or on matters of mixed federal and provincial competence. It can hear appeals on matters of provincial competence only if a matter of a constitutional nature is raised. With respect to Pakistan's autonomous territories (i.e. Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan) the Supreme Court's jurisdiction is rather limited and varies from territory to territory; it can hear appeals only of

24924-417: The future of our democracy." Constitution Hill is the seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. The Constitution Hill precinct is located at 11 Kotze Street in Braamfontein , Johannesburg near the western end of the suburb of Hillbrow . The Hill overlooks downtown Johannesburg to the South and the wealthy northern suburbs of Houghton , Parktown and Sandton to the north. The court building

25110-550: The growth of a capitalist private sector in China. In Russia, President Boris Yeltsin pursued a policy of privatization, spinning off former government agencies into private corporations, attempting to handle budget problems inherited from the USSR. The end of Soviet foreign aid caused a variety of changes in countries previously part of the Eastern Bloc; many officially became democratic republics, though some were more accurately described as authoritarian or oligarchic republics and one-party states . Many Western commentators treated

25296-527: The highest authority in interpreting that state's law and administering that state's judiciary. The courts of Oklahoma and Texas have separate criminal and civil courts of last resort, while Delaware has separate courts for appellate and equity functions. The official names of state supreme courts vary, as do the titles of its members, which can cause confusion between jurisdictions. Alternative names for supreme courts includes Court of Appeals , Supreme Court of Appeals and Supreme Judicial Court . However

25482-413: The highest judicial power in Iceland. The court system was transformed from a two level system to a three level system in 2018 with the establishment of Landsréttur. Israel 's Supreme Court is at the head of the court system in the State of Israel . It is the highest judicial instance. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem . The area of its jurisdiction is the entire State. A ruling of the Supreme Court

25668-401: The importance, difficulty or novelty of a ruling of the Court justifies such hearing. The Supreme Court also holds the unique power of being able to order " trial de novo " (a retrial). Italy has different supreme courts. The Italian court of last resort for most disputes is the Supreme Court of Cassation . There is also a separate constitutional court, the Constitutional Court , which has

25854-401: The inside, they are on ground level on the outside. Those sitting in the court consequently have a view of the feet of passersby moving along, above the heads of the judges, to remind them that in a constitutional democracy the role of judges is to act in the interests of the people of the nation, rather than in their own self-interest. The first court session in the new building at this location

26040-442: The judges' application on 26 September 2014, but they appealed. The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed that appeal in March 2016, criticising Jafta and Nkabinde's damaging court application and implying that the case raised questions about their "integrity". On 6 April 2016, Jafta and Nkabinde filed an appeal to the Constitutional Court – their own court – asking it to overturn the Supreme Court of Appeal's judgment. They did so partly on

26226-415: The late 18th century onwards, civil law jurisdictions began to codify their laws, most of all in civil codes . The Supreme Court functions as a last resort tribunal. Its rulings cannot be appealed. It also decides on cases dealing with the interpretation of the constitution (for example, it can overturn a law passed by Congress if it deems it unconstitutional). According to the Armenian constitution

26412-577: The late 1980s and early 1990s, and has been used up to the present with the availability of the Internet. During the late 1990s, both Internet directories and search engines were popular— Yahoo! and Altavista (both founded 1995) were the respective industry leaders. By late 2001, the directory model had begun to give way to search engines, tracking the rise of Google (founded 1998), which had developed new approaches to relevancy ranking . Directory features, while still commonly available, became after-thoughts to search engines. Database size, which had been

26598-410: The law declared by Supreme Court is to be binding on all Courts within the territory of India while article 142 vests the court with the inherent power to pass any decree or order to ensure 'complete justice'. It is the highest court in India and has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Constitution and decide questions of national law (including local bylaws). The Supreme Court is also vested with

26784-481: The law, and direct challenges to the constitutionality of laws enacted by the Knesset. The court has broad discretionary authority to rule on matters in which it considers it necessary to grant relief in the interests of justice, and which are not within the jurisdiction of another court or tribunal. The High Court of Justice grants relief through orders such as injunction, mandamus and Habeas Corpus, as well as through declaratory judgments. The Supreme Court can also sit at

26970-458: The legality of Knesset elections and disciplinary rulings of the Bar Association. As the High Court of Justice (Hebrew: Beit Mishpat Gavoha Le'Zedek בית משפט גבוה לצדק; also known by its initials as Bagatz בג"ץ), the Supreme Court rules as a court of first instance, primarily in matters regarding the legality of decisions of State authorities: Government decisions, those of local authorities and other bodies and persons performing public functions under

27156-462: The legislative, executive and judicial branches. In Denmark , all ordinary courts have original jurisdiction to hear all types of cases, including cases of a constitutional or administrative nature. As a result, there exists no special constitutional court, and therefore final jurisdiction is vested with the Danish Supreme Court ( Højesteret ) which was established 14 February 1661 by king Frederik III . In France , supreme appellate jurisdiction

27342-434: The lucrative American market, these films spread across the globe, backed by their large budgets and the cinematic expertise gathered there. The rise of the Internet in the 1990s allowed both for an ever further spread of the most popular and dominant works, but the comparatively cheap cost of publishing there, whether as a personal website, blog, or YouTube video, also allowed specific niche subcultures to connect and thrive in

27528-399: The misconduct enquiry against Hlophe was pending, Jafta and Nkabinde brought a court challenge to the tribunal's jurisdiction, saying their own complaint was not legally valid. Commentators slammed Jafta and Nkabinde's "cowardice", which had brought the Constitutional Court into disrepute. The judges claimed, in response, that they were simply upholding the Constitution. The High Court dismissed

27714-413: The new government, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan , whose grasp on power outside the major cities was shaky at best. The war was also less successful in restricting al-Qaeda than anticipated. The Iraq War began in March 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a multinational force . The invasion of Iraq led to an occupation and the eventual capture of Saddam Hussein , who was later executed by

27900-506: The newly independent African governments struggled with the balance between being too weak and overthrown by ambitious coup-plotters, and too strong and becoming dictatorships. Latin America saw gradual economic growth but also instability in many countries, as the threat of coups and military regimes ( juntas ) were a major threat. The most famous was the Cuban Revolution that overthrew Fulgencio Batista 's American-friendly government for Fidel Castro 's Soviet-aligned government. This led to

28086-430: The number of vacancies. The Commission does this after calling for nominations and holding public interviews. Then the President, after consultation with the Chief Justice and the leaders of political parties represented in the National Assembly, chooses the judges from this list. In terms of section 176(1) of the Constitution, judges of the Constitutional Court serve for a non-renewable term of 12 years or until they reach

28272-410: The ordinary courts. Its function is to determine the meaning of the Constitution in relation to matters in dispute. One consequence of this is that the Court works largely with written arguments presented to it by the parties. The hearings of the Court are intended to address particularly difficult issues raised by the written arguments of the parties. The hearings of the Court are open to the public and

28458-435: The parliaments of the states, and the ability to interpret the Constitution of Australia and thereby shape the development of federalism in Australia . The High Court is mandated by section 71 of the Constitution, which vests in it the judicial power of the Commonwealth of Australia. The Court was constituted by, and its first members were appointed under, the Judiciary Act 1903 . It now operates under sections 71 to 75 of

28644-400: The past. Another social trend has been the rise of urbanization as a larger proportion of the world's population has moved to live in cities and urban areas, and fewer people live in rural areas. In the United States, as the overall population more than doubled from 1930 to 1990, around a third of its counties saw their population decline by around 27%, suggesting that as rural counties empty,

28830-461: The power and authority to outlaw political parties, should their manifests or activism prove unconstitutional. When it comes to civil and criminal cases, the Bundesgerichtshof (Federal Court of Justice) is at the top of the hierarchy of courts. The other branches of the German judicial system each have their own appellate systems, each topped by a high court; these are the Bundessozialgericht (Federal Social Court) for matters of social security,

29016-402: The power of judicial review to ensure the application of the rule of law. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the Republic of Ireland . It has authority to interpret the constitution, and strike down laws and activities of the state that it finds to be unconstitutional. It is also the highest authority in the interpretation of the law. Constitutionally it must have authority to interpret

29202-444: The power to interpret the Basic Law is vested in the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC) in Beijing, without retroactive effect. The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ( Spanish : Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación ) is the highest court in Mexico. In the Netherlands , the Supreme Court of the Netherlands is the highest court. Its decisions, known as "arresten", are absolutely final. The court

29388-537: The press. No cameras or recorders are ordinarily permitted. The public is invited to attend all sessions. Ordinary rules of decent dress and decorum apply. On 30 May 2008, the judges of the Constitutional Court issued a statement reporting that they had referred Cape Judge President Judge John Hlophe to the Judicial Service Commission for what they described in their statement as approaching some of them "in an improper attempt to influence this Court's pending judgement in one or more cases". The statement stated further that

29574-402: The principles applied by the supreme court in its decisions are binding upon all lower courts; this is intended to apply a uniform interpretation and implementation of the law. In civil law jurisdictions the doctrine of stare decisis is not generally considered to apply, so the decisions of the supreme court are not necessarily binding beyond the immediate case before it; however, in practice

29760-424: The provisions of the Constitution of Bangladesh, 1972. There are two Divisions of the Supreme Court, i.e. (a) Appellate Division and (b) High Court Division. Appellate Division is the highest Court of Appeal and usually does not exercise the powers of a court of the first instance. Whereas, the High Court Division is a Court of the first instance in writ/judicial review, company, and admiralty matters. In Hong Kong ,

29946-420: The rights of citizens. It is concerned with matters of broad constitutional principle. Bad or incorrect conduct by state officials can be reported to the Office of the Public Protector , formerly called the Ombudsman . The Human Rights Commission has been established to handle complaints of violation of human rights in daily life. The ordinary courts, notably the small claims courts , the Magistrates' Courts ,

30132-460: The rise of postmodernity . Contemporary history is politically dominated by the Cold War (1947–1991) between the Western Bloc , led by the United States, and the Eastern Bloc , led by the Soviet Union . The confrontation spurred fears of a nuclear war . An all-out "hot" war was avoided, but both sides intervened in the internal politics of smaller nations in their bid for global influence and via proxy wars . The Cold War ultimately ended with

30318-423: The rivalries of the Cold War, with both the United States space program ( NASA ) and the Soviet space program launching satellites , probes, and planning missions. While the Soviets put the first human into space with Yuri Gagarin , the Americans soon caught up, and the US was the first to launch a successful Moon landing mission with Apollo 11 in 1969, followed by five more landings in the next few years. In

30504-411: The same way. When interpreting the Constitution, the Court is required to consider international human rights law and may consider the law of other democratic countries. Since the enactment of the Superior Courts Act, the Constitutional Court has had jurisdiction to hear any matter if it is in the interests of justice for it to do so. The Court is one of many bodies created by the Constitution to defend

30690-416: The social effects of cheap and common Internet access. As users gradually switched from personal web pages to blogs to social media, many surprising effects have resulted with both positive and negative assessments. Optimistic assessments often praise the decentralized nature that allows anyone to theoretically gain a platform without the need to convince a publisher or media company to back them, as well as

30876-400: The southern half of the country, while the northern reaches are controlled by a mixture of Arab Sunni rebels, Kurds, and Turkey. Vladimir Putin , Yeltsin's successor, was very popular in Russia after his victory in the Second Chechen War. He portrayed himself as a corruption fighter initially, checking Russian oligarchs who had acquired vast wealth during Russia's liberalization period. With

31062-466: The stairwells from the old awaiting-trial block with the Portuguese words A luta continua ( the struggle continues ) written in lights, has been retained. Sections 174 to 178 of the Constitution deal with the appointment of judicial officers. Judges may not be members of Parliament, of the government or of political parties. To select judges the Judicial Service Commission first draws up a list of candidates, which must have at least three more names than

31248-399: The states). There are currently nine members of the US Supreme Court, however, there is no number specified in the Constitution. New members are nominated to life terms by the President of the United States and must be confirmed by the Senate . There are no specific requirements set out in the Constitution for Supreme Court nominees. Each U.S. state also has its own state supreme court ,

31434-407: The supreme court for military justice matters is the Supreme Court of Justice, which now includes four military judges. Contemporary history Contemporary history , in English-language historiography , is a subset of modern history that describes the historical period from about 1945 to the present. In the social sciences, contemporary history is also continuous with, and related to,

31620-418: The tensions that would roil the Soviet-aligned bloc during the 1980s. South Korea (in the June Democratic Struggle ) and Taiwan (with the lifting of martial law ) would take major steps toward liberalization in 1987–1988, shifting from Western-aligned one-party states to more fully participatory democracies. The 1980s saw a general retreat for the communist bloc. The Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989)

31806-418: The urban counties are where the vast majority of inhabitants are moving to. In Eastern Africa, the urban population soared from 11 million in 1920 to 77 million in 2010. Many rural Chinese people moved to large coastal cities such as Shenzhen to work in the 1990s and 2000s, leading to a sharp increase of Urbanization in China . Rural parts of Japan have seen stark population declines, especially among

31992-459: The various rare earth metals used in the production of batteries and solar, which can require destructive mining techniques to gather. The Information Age or Information Era, also commonly known as the Age of the Computer, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously. The idea

32178-423: The world and a broad based credit boom fed a global speculative bubble in real estate and equities. The financial situation was also affected by a sharp increase in oil and food prices . The collapse of the American housing bubble caused the values of securities tied to real estate pricing to plummet thereafter, damaging financial institutions. The Great Recession , a severe economic recession which began in

32364-526: The world and seized significant portions of territory in Iraq , Syria , Afghanistan , and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt from 2013 and ongoing. On the other hand, some violent militant organizations were able to negotiate peace with governments including the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines in 2014. The presence of IS and the stalemate in the Syrian civil war created a migration of refugees to Europe and also galvanized and encouraged high-profile terrorism attacks and armed conflicts around

32550-420: The world, such as the November 2015 Paris attacks and the Siege of Marawi in the Philippines in 2017. In 2014, the United States decided to intervene against the Islamic State in Iraq , with most IS fighters being driven out by the end of 2018. Russia and Iran also jointly launched a campaign against IS and in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad . As of 2022, Assad has largely regained authority in

32736-407: The young, with only the Greater Tokyo area continuing to grow. How to deal with this change is a major issue, as many cities and their transportation networks were not designed to serve the larger populations that now occupy them. A major trend in many industrialized nations was the sexual revolution , an adoption of publicly more tolerant attitudes toward sex and pre-marital sex . " The pill "

32922-444: Was a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to combat the European sovereign debt crisis. In October 2011 eurozone leaders agreed on another package of measures designed to prevent the collapse of member economies. The three most affected countries, Greece, Ireland and Portugal, collectively account for six percent of eurozone's gross domestic product (GDP). In 2012, eurozone finance ministers reached an agreement on

33108-425: Was constructed using bricks from the demolished awaiting-trial wing of the former prison. Most of the prison was demolished to make way for the new court, but the stairwells were kept and incorporated into the new building as a reminder of the Constitution's transformative aspirations. Inside the main room, a row of horizontal windows has been set up behind the seats of the judges. While the windows are at head-height on

33294-429: Was first approved for use in 1960 in the United States, and spread rapidly around the world. The pill made birth control easier and more reliable than earlier methods. This made sex for pleasure less likely to result in unintended children. It also allowed for easier family planning , where couples could choose more specifically when to have kids compared to earlier eras. Some analysts credit this as one reason behind

33480-491: Was held in February 2004. The court building is open to the public who want to attend hearings or view the art gallery in the court atrium . The court houses a collection of more than 200 contemporary artworks chosen by Constitutional Court judge Albie Sachs , including works by Gerard Sekoto , William Kentridge , and Cecil Skotnes . The doors to the Court have the 27 rights of the Bill of Rights carved into them, written in all 11 official languages of South Africa. One of

33666-477: Was no conflict left to fund. The Malta Summit on 3 December 1989, the failure of the August Coup by Soviet hardliners, and the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union on 26 December 1991 sealed the end of the Cold War. The end of the Cold War left the United States the world's sole superpower. Communism seemed discredited; while China remained an officially communist state, Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms and socialism with Chinese characteristics allowed for

33852-472: Was overthrown in the 1952 Egyptian revolution , and replaced by General Nasser ; the 1953 Iran coup saw the American-friendly shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi remove the democratic constraints on his government and take power directly; and Iraq's Western-friendly monarchy was overthrown in 1958 . Nasser's Egypt would go on to face the Suez Crisis in 1956, briefly unify with Syria as the United Arab Republic (UAR) from 1958 to 1961, and expensively intervene in

34038-476: Was overthrown in the 1979 Iranian Revolution and was replaced by a new Islamic Republic headed by Ruhollah Khomeini . Iran and Baathist Iraq under Saddam Hussein then fought each other in the Iran–Iraq War from 1980–1988, which ended inconclusively. In East Asia, China underwent the Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976, a major internal struggle that saw an intense program of Maoism and persecution of perceived internal enemies. China's relations with

34224-511: Was skeptical of atomic energy and has discouraged many projects. Nuclear proponents counter that nuclear energy produces no air pollution compared to traditional fossil fuel plants, and can provide a steady supply of energy regardless of external conditions unlike solar and wind energy. With the supply of Russian natural gas disrupted in 2022 , France is looking to reactivate some of its older decommissioned nuclear plants, for example. Various forms of renewable energy have grown in prominence in

34410-506: Was the United States combat operation involving some coalition partners and operating primarily in the eastern and southern parts of the country along the Pakistan border; the ISAF established by the United Nations Security Council was in charge of securing the capital of Kabul and its surrounding areas. NATO assumed control of ISAF in 2003. Despite initial coalition successes, the Taliban were never entirely defeated, and continued to hold territory in mountainous regions as well as threaten

34596-449: Was until 1980 known as the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has a purely appellate jurisdiction and hears appeals from the Court of Appeal of New Zealand . In some cases, an appeal may be removed directly to the Supreme Court from the High Court. For certain cases, particularly cases which commenced in the District Court, a lower court (typically the High Court or the Court of Appeal) may be the court of final jurisdiction. The Supreme Court

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