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Algeria
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court resides in Algiers. Its main directive is to
ensure the equal and just application of law in all parts of the
country. The Supreme Court has four major divisions: a Private
Law chamber for civil and commercial cases, a Social Division
that presides over issues of social security and labor, a Criminal
Court, and an Administrative Division. The court has appellate
authority over lower court decisions through the power of abrogation.
This appellate power is more limited than United States notions
of judicial review. The Supreme Court can review lower court decisions
only on questions of procedure, not questions of legal dispute.
When overruled, lower court decisions are returned to the lower
courts for retrial. The Supreme Court issues no legal decisions
and lacks jurisdiction over government actions and/or the constitutionality
of government decrees. Traditionally, the Supreme Court has ruled
in favor of sharia law over contemporary secular law.
Data as of December 1993
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