The judiciary of Uruguay is a branch of the

government of Uruguay The politics of Uruguay abide by a presidential representative democratic republic, under which the President of Uruguay is both the head of state and the head of government, as well as a multiform party system. The president exercises execu ...

that interprets and applies the laws of Uruguay, to ensure

equal justice under law Equal justice under law is a phrase engraved on the West Pediment, above the front entrance of the United States Supreme Court building in Washington D.C. It is also a societal ideal that has influenced the American legal system. The phrase wa ...

, and to provide a mechanism for dispute resolution. The legal system of Uruguay is a civil law system, with public law based on the 1967 Constitution, amended in 1989, 1994,

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

, and 2004. The Constitution declares Uruguay to be a ''democratic republic'', and separates the government into three equal branches,

executive Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

and judicial. Private relationships are subject to the

Uruguayan Civil Code The Civil Code of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, Código Civil de la República Oriental del Uruguay) is a systematic collection of Uruguayan laws designed to comprehensively deal with the core areas of private law such as for dealing wit ...

, originally published in 1868. The Constitution defines the judiciary as a hierarchical system courts, with the highest court being a five-member Supreme Court, who are appointed by the legislative branch of the government, for ten-year terms. The Supreme Court appoints the judges of most of the lower courts. Below the Supreme Court, there are sixteen courts of appeal, each of which has three judges. Seven of the courts of appeal specialize in civil matters, four specialize in criminal matters, three cover labour law, and two focus on family matters. At the lowest tier are

justices of the peace A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...

and courts of first instance specialized in administrative, civil, criminal, customs, juvenile, and labour cases. Although the hierarchy, all of them are functionally and structurally impartial, that is, the tribunal should not be interested in the object of the particular case, and the higher tribunal does not impose a behaviour nor

precedent A precedent is a principle or rule established in a previous legal case that is either binding on or persuasive for a court or other tribunal when deciding subsequent cases with similar issues or facts. Common-law legal systems place great valu ...

to the lower ones. There are also separate courts for auditing, elections and the military. Elections in Uruguay are organized and supervised by a permanent and independent Electoral Court, which was established by an electoral law that was drafted in 1924, and was included in the 1932 constitution. The court has nine members of which five are non-partisan members elected by the parliament, the General Assembly of Uruguay. The other four members represent the major political parties in the General Assembly and are each selected by the legislators of their own parties. Below the Electoral Court are nineteen departmental electoral boards. The Judiciary of Uruguay is possibly the most independent in Latin America, in part due to having its own budget. However, between 1977 and 1985, the military government severely curtailed the independence of the judiciary, by placing the judiciary under a

justice ministry A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in ...

. In 1985, the Supreme Court reasserted judicial independence by releasing members of the

Tupamaros The Tupamaros – National Liberation Movement ( es, Movimiento de Liberación Nacional – Tupamaros, MLN-T), widely known as Tupamaros, was a Marxist-Leninist urban guerrilla group in Uruguay in the 1960s and 1970s. The MLN-T is inextricab ...

urban guerrilla group, who had been imprisoned in the seventies. Between 1905 and 1977, and from 1989 onwards, the selection of judges involved the legislature rather than the executive branch of government. Since 1997, it has been possible for Supreme Court judges to be re-elected after a gap of five years but only up to the age of 70.

References

External links

* {{Judiciaries of South America Government of Uruguay

See also

References

External links