Judicial ReEngineering

Bundesarbeitsgericht for employment and labour, the Bundesfinanzhof for taxation, and the
Bundesverwaltungsgericht for administrative law. The so-called Gemeinsamer Senat der
Obersten Gerichtshöfe (Joint Senate of the Supreme Courts), is not a supreme court in itself, but
an ad-hoc body that is convened only in when one supreme court intends to diverge from another
supreme court's legal opinion. As the courts have well-defined areas of responsibility, this
situation rarely arises, and so the Joint Senate only gathers rather rarely, and only to consider
matters which are mostly definitory.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands is the highest. Its decisions, known as
"arresten", are absolutely final. The court 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. Also, the ordinary courts in the Netherlands, including
the Hoge Raad, do not deal with administrative law, which is dealt with in separate
administrative courts, the highest of which is the Council of State (Raad van State)
Iceland
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
the highest judicial power in Iceland, where the court system has two levels.
Italy
Italy follows the French system of different supreme courts.
The Italian court of last resort for most disputes is the Corte Suprema di Cassazione. There is
also a separate constitutional court, the Corte costituzionale, which has a duty of judicial review,
and which can strike down legislation as being in conflict with the Constitution.
Japan
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 the Constitution and decide questions of national law
(including local by-laws). It has the power of judicial review (i.e., it can declare Acts of Diet and
Local Assembly, and administrative actions, unconstitutional).
Luxembourg
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 is by way of the "question préjudicielle" (prejudicial question).
The Court of last resort for civil and criminal proceedings is the "Cour de Cassation".
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