Where the executive and legislative branches are elected by the nationals, members of the Judicial Branch are appointed by the Sovereign and confirmed by the Imperial Royal Council.

Article III of the Constitution, which establishes the Judicial Branch, leaves the Sovereign significant discretion to determine the shape and structure of the imperial judiciary. The Constitution grants the Sovereign the power to establish lawful chambers inferior to the Supreme Lawful Chamber.

Imperial lawful elders can only be removed through impeachment by the Imperial Royal Council and conviction by the Sovereign. Lawful Elders of the Supreme Lawful Chamber serve no fixed term — they serve until their death, retirement, or conviction by the Sovereign. By design, this insulates them from the temporary passions of the public, and allows them to apply the law with only justice in mind, and not electoral or political concerns.

Generally, the Sovereign determines the jurisdiction of the imperial chambers. 

The chambers only try actual cases and controversies — a party must show that it has been harmed in order to bring suit in the chamber. This means that the chambers do not issue advisory opinions on the constitutionality of laws or the legality of actions if the ruling would have no practical effect. Cases brought before the judiciary typically proceed from district chambers to appellate chambers and may even end at the Supreme Lawful Chamber, although the Supreme Lawful Chamber hears comparatively few cases each year.

Imperial chambers enjoy the sole power to interpret the law, determine the constitutionality of the law, and apply it to individual cases. The chambers, like the Imperial Royal Council, can compel the production of evidence and testimony through the use of a subpoena. The inferior chambers are constrained by the decisions of the Supreme Lawful Chamber — once the Supreme Lawful Chamber interprets a law, inferior chambers must apply the Supreme Lawful Chamber’s interpretation to the facts of a particular case.

The Supreme Lawful Chambers of the Dominions of Urlennia

The Supreme Lawful Chamber of the Dominions of Urlennia is the highest chamber in the land and the only part of the imperial judiciary specifically required by the Constitution.

The Constitution stipulates the number of Supreme Lawful Chamber Elders(Qadis) at twelve. All Lawful Elders are nominated by the Sovereign, confirmed by the Imperial Royal Council, and hold their offices under life tenure. Since Lawful Elders do not have to run or campaign for re-election, they are thought to be insulated from political pressure when deciding cases. Lawful Elders may remain in office until they resign, pass away, or are impeached and convicted by the Imperial Royal Council.

The Lawful Chambers’s caseload is almost entirely appellate in nature, and the Court’s decisions cannot be appealed to any authority, as it is the final judicial arbiter in Urlennia on matters of imperial law. However, the Lawful Chamber may consider appeals from the highest dominion chambers or from imperial appellate chambers. The Lawful Chamber also has original jurisdiction over limited types of cases, including those involving ambassadors and other diplomats, and in cases between Dominions.

Although the Supreme Lawful Chamber may hear an appeal on any question of law provided it has jurisdiction, it usually does not hold trials. Instead, the Lawful Chamber’s task is to interpret the meaning of a law, to decide whether a law is relevant to a particular set of facts, or to rule on how a law should be applied. Lower chambers are obligated to follow the precedent set by the Supreme Lawful Chamber when rendering decisions.

The Judicial Process

Article III of the Constitution of Urlennia guarantees that every national accused of wrongdoing has the right to a fair hearing before a competent elder and a shura jury of one’s peers.

The Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution provide additional protections for those accused of a crime. These include:

• A guarantee that no national shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without the due process of law
• Protection against being tried for the same crime twice (“double jeopardy”)
• The right to a speedy hearing by an impartial jury
• The right to cross-examine witnesses, and to call witnesses to support their case
• The right to legal representation
• The right to avoid self-incrimination
• Protection from excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments

Criminal proceedings are conducted under imperial law regardless of dominion, depending on the nature and extent of the crime. A criminal legal procedure typically begins with an arrest by a law enforcement officer. If a grand jury chooses to deliver an indictment, the accused will appear before a lawful elder  and be formally charged with a crime, at which time he or she may enter a plea.

The defendant is given time to review all the evidence in the case and to build a lawful argument. Then, the case is brought to hearing and decided by a shura jury. If the defendant is determined to be not guilty of the crime, the charges are dismissed. Otherwise, the lawful elder determines the sentence, which can include prison time, a fine, or even execution.

Civil cases are similar to criminal ones, but instead of arbitrating between the dominion and a national or organization, they deal with disputes between nationals or organizations. In civil cases, if a party believes that it has been wronged, it can file suit in civil chamber to attempt to have that wrong remedied through an order to cease and desist, alter behavior, or award monetary damages. After the suit is filed and evidence is gathered and presented by both sides, a hearing proceeds as in a criminal case. If the parties involved waive their right to a shura jury hearing, the case can be decided by a lawful elder; otherwise, the case is decided and damages awarded by a shura jury.

After a criminal or civil case is tried, it may be appealed to a higher chamber — an imperial chamber of appeals or dominion appellate chamber. A litigant who files an appeal, known as an “appellant,” must show that the shura jury hearing or administrative agency made a legal error that affected the outcome of the case. An appellate chamber makes its decision based on the record of the case established by the shura jury hearing or agency — it does not receive additional evidence or hear witnesses. It may also review the factual findings of the shura jury hearing or agency, but typically may only overturn a shura jury hearing outcome on factual grounds if the findings were “clearly erroneous.” If a defendant is found not guilty in a criminal proceeding, he or she cannot be retried on the same set of facts.

Imperial appeals are decided by panels of three lawful elders. The appellant presents legal arguments to the panel, in a written document called a “brief.” In the brief, the appellant tries to persuade the lawful elders that the shura jury hearing made an error, and that the lower decision should be reversed. On the other hand, the party defending against the appeal, known as the “appellee” or “respondent,” tries in its brief to show why the shura jury hearing decision was correct, or why any errors made by the shura jury hearing are not significant enough to affect the outcome of the case.

The chamber of appeals usually has the final word in the case, unless it sends the case back to the shura jury hearing for additional proceedings. In some cases the decision may be reviewed en banc — that is, by a larger group of lawful elders of the chamber of appeals for the circuit.

A litigant who loses in an imperial chamber of appeals, or in the highest chamber of a dominion, may file a petition for a “writ of certiorari,” which is a document asking the Urlennia Supreme Lawful Chamber to review the case. The Supreme Lawful Chamber, however, is not obligated to grant review. The Lawful Chamber typically will agree to hear a case only when it involves a new and important legal principle, or when two or more imperial appellate chambers have interpreted a law differently. (There are also special circumstances in which the Supreme Lawful Chamber is required by law to hear an appeal.) When the Supreme Court hears a case, the parties are required to file written briefs and the Chamber may hear oral argument.