List of supreme courts by country

(Redirected from List of national supreme courts)

A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Supreme courts include:

List of supreme courts

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (September 2024)

States recognised by the United Nations

State	Court(s)	Mode of selection	Term (Years)	Retirement age	Number of members
Afghanistan	Supreme Court of Afghanistan	Appointed by the supreme leader	-	-	-
Albania	Constitutional Court of Albania	3 members appointed by the President 3 members elected by 3/5 of the Assembly 3 members elected by the High Court	9	70	9
Albania	Supreme Court of Albania	Appointed by the President with the consent of Parliament	9	70	17
Algeria	Constitutional Court of Algeria	4 members appointed by the President 2 elected by the Supreme Court 2 elected by the Council of State	6	-	12
Algeria	Supreme Court of Algeria	appointed by the executive	-	-	-
Andorra	Superior Court of Justice	-	-	-	-
Angola	Supreme Court of Angola	appointed by the president
Angola	Constitutional Court of Angola	Four are appointed by the President, four by the National Assembly, two by the Superior Council of the Judiciary, and one elected by the public			11
Antigua and Barbuda	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Antigua and Barbuda	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Argentina	Supreme Court of Argentina	Presidential nomination with Senate of Argentina confirmation (Judges) Ministers of the Supreme Court (President)	-	75	5
Armenia	Constitutional Court of Armenia	Elected/appointed by the National Assembly with an equal number of nominations by the president, the government and a general meeting of judges	12 years, non-renewable	70	9
Armenia	Court of Cassation
Australia	High Court of Australia	Appointed by Governor-General following nomination by Prime Minister, and advice from Attorney-General and Cabinet		70	7
Austria	Constitutional Court of Austria	Justices are sworn in by the President on nomination of either the Government, the National Council, or the Federal Council		Mandatory retirement at 70 years of age	14 members (including the President and the Vice President) 6 substitute members
	Supreme Court of Justice	Presidential appointment on nomination of the minister of justice			60
	Administrative Court of Austria
Azerbaijan	Constitutional Court of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan	Supreme Court of Azerbaijan
Bahamas	Supreme Court of the Bahamas				11
Bahamas	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Bahrain	Constitutional Court
	Court of Cassation
	Supreme Court of Appeal
	High Sharia Court of Appeal
Bangladesh	Supreme Court of Bangladesh	The Chief Justice of Bangladesh and other judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of Bangladesh with prior mandatory consultation with the Prime Minister.		67	6 in Appellate Division 95 in High Court Division
Barbados	Supreme Court of Judicature
Barbados	Caribbean Court of Justice
Belarus	Constitutional Court of Belarus				12
Belarus	Supreme Court of Belarus
Belgium	Constitutional Court				12
Belgium	Court of Cassation				30
Belize	Supreme Court of Belize
Belize	Caribbean Court of Justice
Benin	Constitutional Court of Benin				7
	Supreme Court of Benin
	High Court of Justice
Bhutan	Supreme Court of Bhutan	The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (also called the "Chief Justice of Bhutan"), as well as its Drangpons are appointed by the Druk Gyalpo from among their juniors and peers, or from among other eminent jurists.	10	65	5
Bolivia	Plurinational Constitutional Court
Bolivia	Supreme Court of Justice				9
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina				9
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana	Court of Appeal
Brazil	Supreme Federal Court	Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation	-	75	11
Brazil	Superior Court of Justice	Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation	-	75	33
Brunei	Supreme Court of Brunei
Brunei	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Bulgaria	Supreme Court of Cassation of Bulgaria
Bulgaria	Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria
Burkina Faso	Supreme Court of Burkina Faso
Burundi	Supreme Court of Burundi
Cambodia	Constitutional Council of Cambodia				9
Cambodia	Supreme Court of Cambodia				9
Cameroon	Supreme Court of Cameroon
Canada	Supreme Court of Canada	Judicial appointments in Canada		75	9
Cape Verde	Supreme Court of Justice				5 (minimum)
Central African Republic	Constitutional Court of the Central African Republic
Central African Republic	Supreme Court of the Central African Republic
Chad	Constitutional Council of Chad				9
Chad	Supreme Court of Chad				16
Chile	Constitutional Court of Chile				10
Chile	Supreme Court of Chile				21
China	Supreme People's Court	Elected (de facto appointed) by the National People's Congress or Standing Committee of the National People's Congress			400 (approximate)
	Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (de facto, Hong Kong and Macau)				175
	Court of Final Appeal (de jure, Macau)	Appointed by the Chief Executive on nomination of the Independent Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission.
	Court of Final Appeal (de jure, Hong Kong)	Appointed by the Chief Executive on nomination of the Judicial Officers Recommendation Commission and with the approval of the Legislative Council		70
Colombia	Constitutional Court of Colombia				9
	Supreme Court of Justice				23
	Council of State				27
Comoros	Supreme Court of the Comoros
Congo-Brazzaville	Supreme Court of Republic of the Congo
Congo-Kinshasa	Constitutional Court				9
	Court of Cassation				26
	Council of State
Costa Rica	Supreme Court of Justice of Costa Rica
Croatia	Supreme Court of Croatia	Elected by the State Judicial Council	Five years in the first term, life tenure after renewal	70	42
Cuba	People's Supreme Court of Cuba
Cyprus	Supreme Court of Cyprus				13
Czech Republic	Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic				15
	Supreme Court of the Czech Republic
	Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic
Denmark	Supreme Court of Denmark	Appointed by the other judges		70
Djibouti	Supreme Court of Djibouti
Dominica	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Dominica	Caribbean Court of Justice (see below)
Dominican Republic	Supreme Court of the Dominican Republic	Elected by the National Council of Magistracy	9	-	16
East Timor	Supreme Court of Justice
Ecuador	Constitutional Court of Ecuador
Ecuador	National Court of Justice of Ecuador
Egypt	Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt
Egypt	Court of Cassation
El Salvador	Supreme Court of El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea	Constitutional Court of Equatorial Guinea
Equatorial Guinea	Supreme Court of Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea	High Court of Eritrea
Estonia	Supreme Court of Estonia
Eswatini	High Court of Eswatini
Ethiopia	Federal Supreme Court
Fiji	Supreme Court of Fiji
Finland	Supreme Court of Finland				15 - 1 President a minimum of 14 others. (Currently 17)
Finland	Supreme Administrative Court of Finland
France	Constitutional Council	3 members selected by the President of the Republic; 3 members selected by the President of the Senate; 3 members selected by the President of the National Assembly	9 years (non-renewable)		9 + 2 former presidents of the Republic (de facto)
	Court of Cassation
	Council of State
Gabon	Supreme Court of Gabon
Gambia	Supreme Court of the Gambia
Georgia	Constitutional Court of Georgia	3 Judges Appointed by the President of Georgia; 3 Judges Elected by the Parliament of Georgia; 3 Judges designated by the Supreme Court of Georgia	10		9
Georgia	Supreme Court of Georgia
Germany	Federal Constitutional Court	Election by Bundestag and Bundesrat	12	68	16
	Federal Court of Justice
	Federal Administrative Court
	Federal Fiscal Court
	Federal Labour Court
	Federal Social Court
Ghana	Supreme Court of Ghana
Greece	Supreme Special Court
	Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece
	Council of State
	Court of Audit
Grenada	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Grenada	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Guatemala	Constitutional Court
Guatemala	Supreme Court of Justice
Guinea	Supreme Court of Guinea
Guinea-Bissau	Supreme Court of Guinea-Bissau
Guyana	Supreme Court of Judicature
Guyana	Caribbean Court of Justice
Haiti	Supreme Court of Haiti
Honduras	Supreme Court of Honduras
Hungary	Constitutional Court of Hungary
Hungary	Curia of Hungary
Iceland	Supreme Court of Iceland	Presidential appointment after Minister of Justice nomination following Qualifications Committee selection. Parliamentary confirmation before appointment if minister nomination differs from committee selection.	no term limit	Life tenure	7 (by statute)
India	Supreme Court of India	Appointed by the President, on recommendations of the Supreme Court Collegium consisting of the 5 senior-most judges of the Supreme Court including the Chief Justice.	no term limit	65	34 including the Chief Justice of India
Indonesia	Constitutional Court of Indonesia
Indonesia	Supreme Court of Indonesia
Iran	Supreme Court of Iran	The chief of the Supreme Court is nominated by the head of the judiciary	5		42
Iraq	Supreme Court of Iraq
Ireland	Supreme Court of Ireland	Appointed by the President, acting on the binding advice of the Government	Once appointed, a judge may only be removed by the Oireachtas for stated misbehaviour or incapacity. Mandatory retirement on reach 70 years of age.		10 and 2 ex officio members
Israel	Supreme Court of Israel	Presidential appointment upon nomination by the Judicial Selection Committee		70	15
Italy	Constitutional Court of Italy	Elected/appointed in equal portions by Italian Parliament, President of the Italian Republic, and highest Italian courts	9 years (not renewable)		15
Italy	Supreme Court of Cassation
Ivory Coast	Constitutional Council
Ivory Coast	Supreme Court of the Ivory Coast
Jamaica	Court of Appeal
Jamaica	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Japan	Supreme Court of Japan	Selected by the Cabinet of Japan		Mandatory retirement at age 70	15
Jordan	Court of Cassation
Kazakhstan	Constitutional Council of Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan	Supreme Court of Kazakhstan
Kenya	Supreme Court of Kenya
Kiribati	Court of Appeal of Kiribati
Kiribati	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Kuwait	High Court of Appeal of Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan	Supreme Court of Kyrgyzstan
Laos	People's Supreme Court of Laos
Latvia	Constitutional Court of Latvia	Elected/appointed in 3 portions by Saeima, 2 by Government of Latvia, and 2 by Supreme Court of Latvia	10	-	7
Latvia	Supreme Court of Latvia
Lebanon	Constitutional Council
Lebanon	Court of Cassation
Lesotho	Lesotho Court of Appeal
Liberia	Supreme Court of Liberia	Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation	no term limit	70	5
Libya	Supreme Court of Libya
Liechtenstein	Supreme Court of Liechtenstein
Lithuania	Constitutional Court of Lithuania	Renewed by a third every three years, each judge nominated by the President, Speaker of Seimas and the Head of the Supreme Court and appointed by Seimas	9 years (only one term allowed)		9
Lithuania	Supreme Court of Lithuania
Luxembourg	Constitutional Court
	Superior Court of Justice
	Administrative Court
Madagascar	Supreme Court of Madagascar
Malawi	Constitutional Court of Malawi
Malawi	Supreme Court of Appeal
Malaysia	Federal Court of Malaysia	Royal appointment with the advice of the Prime Minister		Compulsory retirement at age 66 and 6 months	15
Maldives	Supreme Court of the Maldives	Presidential Nomination and then People's Majlis Confirmation		Life tenure	7
Mali	Supreme Court of Mali
Malta	Constitutional Court of Malta
	Court of Civil Appeals of Malta
	Court of Criminal Appeals of Malta
Marshall Islands	Supreme Court of the Marshall Islands
Mauritania	Supreme Court of Mauritania
Mauritius	Supreme Court of Mauritius	By the President, after consultation with the Prime Minister		67	17
Mauritius	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Mexico	Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation		15		11
Micronesia	Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia
Moldova	Constitutional Court of Moldova
Moldova	Supreme Court of Justice of Moldova
Monaco	Supreme Court of Monaco
Mongolia	Constitutional Court of Mongolia	Parliamentary, presidential and judicial selection with parliamentary confirmation			9
Mongolia	Supreme Court of Mongolia	Appointment by President of Mongolia after presentation by the General Council of the Courts			25
Montenegro	Constitutional Court of Montenegro, Supreme Court of Montenegro
Morocco	Supreme Court of Morocco
Mozambique	Supreme Court of Mozambique
Myanmar	Constitutional Tribunal of Myanmar
Myanmar	Supreme Court of Myanmar
Namibia	Supreme Court of Namibia
Nauru	Supreme Court of Nauru
Nepal	Supreme Court of Nepal	Presidential nomination with Parliament confirmation		65	21
Netherlands	Supreme Court of the Netherlands	Selected by the House of Representatives on advice of the Supreme Court and appointed by royal decree		70	36
Netherlands	Council of State
New Zealand	Supreme Court of New Zealand	Appointed by the Governor-General on behalf of King Charles III on the advice of the Prime Minister (Chief Justice) and Attorney-General (Justices)		70	6
Nicaragua	Supreme Court of Nicaragua
Niger	Constitutional Court of Niger
Niger	Supreme Court of Niger
Nigeria	Supreme Court of Nigeria	Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation	no term limit	70	21
North Korea	Supreme Court of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
North Macedonia	Constitutional Court of North Macedonia
North Macedonia	Supreme Court of North Macedonia
Norway	Supreme Court of Norway				20
Oman	Supreme Court of Oman
Pakistan	Supreme Court of Pakistan
Pakistan	Federal Shariat Court
Palau	Supreme Court of Palau
Palestine	Supreme Constitutional Court
Palestine	Supreme Court of Palestine
Panama	Supreme Court of Justice
Papua New Guinea	Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea		10 year term, renewable
Paraguay	Supreme Court of Justice
Peru	Constitutional Court of Peru
Peru	Supreme Court of Peru
Philippines	Supreme Court of the Philippines	Presidential appointment from the shortlist of candidates submitted by the Judicial and Bar Council		70	15
Poland	Constitutional Tribunal
	Supreme Court of Poland
	Supreme Administrative Court
Portugal	Constitutional Court of Portugal
Portugal	Supreme Court of Justice
Qatar	Court of Cassation of Qatar
Romania	Constitutional Court of Romania	Senate selection (3 members) Chamber of Deputies selection (3 members) President selection (3 members)	9		9
Romania	High Court of Cassation and Justice
Russia	Constitutional Court of Russia	Appointment by Federation Council with nomination by President of Russia	-	70 (76 for the Deputy President and none for the President)	11 (including the President and the Deputy President)
Russia	Supreme Court of Russia	Appointment by Federation Council with nomination by President of Russia based on the proposal by Prime Minister of Russia	-	70 (76 for the Deputy Chief Justices and none for the Chief Justice)	170
Rwanda	Supreme Court of Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Saint Lucia	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Saint Lucia	Caribbean Court of Justice (see below)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Samoa	Court of Appeal of Samoa
Samoa	Supreme Court of Samoa
San Marino	Council of Twelve
São Tomé and Príncipe	Supreme Court of Justice
Saudi Arabia	Supreme Judicial Council
Senegal	Constitutional Council
Senegal	Court of Cassation
Serbia	Constitutional Court of Serbia	Parliament selection (5 members) Presidential selection (5 members) Supreme Court selection (5 memb.)	9	65	15
Serbia	Supreme Court of Serbia	Elected by the High Magistrate Council	life tenure	65	50
Seychelles	Supreme Court of Seychelles
Sierra Leone	Supreme Court of Sierra Leone
Singapore	Supreme Court of Singapore	Executive selection		65
Slovakia	Constitutional Court of Slovakia
	Supreme Court of Slovakia
	Supreme Administrative Court of Slovakia
Slovenia	Constitutional Court of Slovenia
Slovenia	Supreme Court of Slovenia
Solomon Islands	Court of Appeal of Solomon Islands
Somalia	Constitutional Court
Somalia	Federal High Court
South Africa	Constitutional Court of South Africa
South Africa	Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa
South Korea	Constitutional Court of Korea	Appointed by President upon nomination of equal portions from National Assembly, Supreme Court Chief Justice and the President	6 years, renewable	70	9
South Korea	Supreme Court of Korea	Appointed by President with consent of National Assembly (for associate Justices, nomination of Chief Justice is additionally required)	6 years, renewable	70	14
South Sudan	Supreme Court of South Sudan
Spain	Constitutional Court of Spain	Appointed by the King after being nominated by the Parliament, the General Council of the Judiciary and the Government.	9		12
Spain	Supreme Court of Spain	Appointed by Monarch on selection by the General Council of the Judiciary		70	79
Sri Lanka	Supreme Court of Sri Lanka
Sudan	Supreme Court of Sudan
Suriname	High Court of Justice of Suriname
Sweden	Supreme Court of Sweden	Government-appointed with parliamentary notification	Life tenure	67	16
Sweden	Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden
Switzerland	Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland
Syria	Supreme Constitutional Court of Syria
Syria	Court of Cassation
Tajikistan	Supreme Court of Tajikistan
Tanzania	Court of Appeal of Tanzania
Thailand	Supreme Court of Thailand
Togo	Supreme Court of Togo
Tonga	Court of Appeal of Tonga
Tonga	Privy Council of Tonga (hereditary estates and titles)
Trinidad and Tobago	Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Tunisia	Constitutional Court
Tunisia	Court of Cassation
Turkey	Constitutional Court of Turkey	Legislative/Executive appointment	12	65	15
	Court of Cassation	Council of Judges and Prosecutors	12	65	380
	Council of State	Council of Judges and Prosecutors	12	65	115
	Court of Jurisdictional Disputes	Appointed by other supreme courts	4	65	13
Turkmenistan	Supreme Court of Turkmenistan
Tuvalu	High Court of Tuvalu
Tuvalu	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Uganda	Constitutional Court of Uganda
Uganda	Supreme Court of Uganda
Ukraine	Constitutional Court of Ukraine	Presidential, Parliamentary and Congress of Judges nomination	9	65	18
Ukraine	Supreme Court of Ukraine	Presidential-parliamentary appointment	5-year term, renewable		48
United Arab Emirates	Federal Supreme Court	Presidential appointment			20
United Kingdom	Supreme Court of the United Kingdom	Appointed by the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister, following approval of a recommendation by the Lord Chancellor		75	12
	* Scotland High Court of Justiciary (Scotland–Criminal Appeals concerning violations of the Human Rights Act 1998 may be heard in the Supreme Court alongside civil cases)	Appointment by the Monarch on recommendation of the First Minister of Scotland who receive a recommendation from the Judicial Appointments Board for Scotland		75	36
	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
United States	Supreme Court of the United States	Presidential nomination with Senate confirmation		Life tenure	9
Uruguay	Supreme Court of Uruguay	Appointed by the General Assembly by two thirds of the votes.	10		5
Uzbekistan	Supreme Court of Uzbekistan	Constitutional Court of Uzbekistan
Vanuatu	Supreme Court of Vanuatu
Vatican City/Holy See	Supreme Court of Vatican City				3
Venezuela	Supreme Tribunal of Justice
Vietnam	Supreme People's Court of Vietnam
Yemen	Supreme Court of Yemen
Zambia	Constitutional Court of Zambia
Zambia	Supreme Court of Zambia
Zimbabwe	Constitutional Court of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe	Supreme Court of Zimbabwe

States recognised by at least one United Nations member

State	Court(s)
Abkhazia	Supreme Court of Abkhazia
Cook Islands	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Kosovo	Supreme Court of Kosovo
Niue	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (see below)
Northern Cyprus	Supreme Court of Northern Cyprus
Taiwan	Constitutional Court, Supreme Court of the Republic of China
South Ossetia	Supreme Court of South Ossetia
Western Sahara	Constitutional Council, Supreme Court of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

States not recognised by any United Nations members

State	Court(s)
Somaliland	Supreme Court of Somaliland
Transnistria	Supreme Court of Transnistria

Sui generis entities

State	Court(s)
European Union	European Court of Justice
Sovereign Military Order of Malta	Magistral Court of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

International courts

There are a number of international courts that are the highest courts of appeal for members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and some of the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations respectively. However, the members of those organisations do sometimes have high courts of their own and their jurisdiction may be limited.

Organisation	Court(s)
Benelux Union	Benelux Court of Justice
Caribbean Community	Caribbean Court of Justice
Commonwealth of Nations	Judicial Committee of the Privy Council
Council of Europe	European Court of Human Rights
European Free Trade Association	EFTA Court
Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States	Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court

Notes

^ This court is not independent of either the legislature and/or executive of that country.
Such recommendations are binding upon the President as per the Three Judges Cases

References

^ "International Alliance of Constitutional Courts" (in English and Italian). Retrieved Jun 16, 2018.
"Guyana". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 2009-12-04.
"Memorandum of procedure of appointment of Supreme Court Judges | Department of Justice | India". Retrieved 2023-04-17.
"Korea, North". The World Factbook. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
🖉"Konstytucja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej". www.sejm.gov.pl.
"Trinidad and Tobago". The World Factbook. CIA. Retrieved 2009-12-06.

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