Supreme Court
The head of the Chilean Judiciary System is the Supreme Court of Justice, a body integrated by twenty one members called "Ministers" (Ministros), one of them is elected by its pairs as the President for a two-year period. Supreme Court's Ministers are designated by the President of the Republic, who chooses from five candidates proposed by the Supreme Court, with the agreement of the Senate.
Of the twenty one members of the Supreme Court, sixteen must be judges of Courts of Appeal and five must be lawyers not related to the judiciary system. All members must be lawyers with at least fifteen years of professional exercise, with a distinguished professional or academical career and several other requirements established by the law.
The Supreme Court of Justice is in charge of the directive, correctional and economical superintendence of all the courts of the country, save the Constitutional Court, the National Board of Elections and the Regional Boards of Elections.
According to the Organic Code of Courts, the Supreme Court is officially referred to as "Excellence" (Excelencia) and its Ministers as "Your Honor" (Su Señoría), just like all other judges.
Cases submitted to the knowledge of the Supreme Court can be examined in two ways: in plenary of at least eleven Ministers or in chambers of at least five Ministers. The regular operation of the Court is in four chambers of five Ministers, at least three of them must be judges, while the other two can be lawyers or judges.
One of the most important functions of the Supreme Court is acting as a Court of Cassation, seeking the standard application of the law to all alike cases, in order to maintain a uniform interpretation of the law throughout the country.
According to Chilean civil law system, the sentence of one judge only affects the case on which such sentence was dictated, nevertheless, the decisions of the Supreme Court are a strong precedent which is usually replicated by the lower instance courts and judges when deciding about similar cases.
Read more about this topic: Judiciary Of Chile
Famous quotes related to supreme court:
“... the outcome of the Clarence Thomas hearings and his subsequent appointment to the Supreme Court shows how misguided, narrow notions of racial solidarity that suppress dissent and critique can lead black folks to support individuals who will not protect their rights.”
—bell hooks (b. c. 1955)