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The Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation is the highest
page 31
''In'' Austin, Raymond Darrel (2009) ''Navajo Courts and Navajo Common Law: A Tradition of Tribal Self-Governance'' University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
The Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation is the highest judicial
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of courts that adjudicates legal disputes/disagreements and interprets, defends, and applies the law ...
Native American authority of the Navajo Nation
The Navajo Nation ( nv, Naabeehó Bináhásdzo), also known as Navajoland, is a Native Americans in the United States, Native American Indian reservation, reservation in the United States. It occupies portions of northeastern Arizona, northwe ...
, the largest American Indian nation in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. According to Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each c ...
, "the judicial system of the Navajo Nation is the most active tribal judicial system in the United States, with a case load that rivals, and in some instances exceeds, many municipal, county, and state judicial systems."
The Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation sits in Window Rock
Window Rock ( nv, , ) is a census-designated place that serves as the seat of government and capital of the Navajo Nation, the largest territory in North America of a sovereign Native American nation. The capital lies within the boundaries of the ...
. It is a three-member body consisting of the Chief Justice JoAnn Jayne
JoAnn Jayne is an American and Navajo politician and attorney from Montana, who served as a Democratic member of the Montana House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009.
She served as Justice of the Peace in Lake and Sanders County, Montana ...
, and Associate Justices Eleanor Shirley and Tina Tsinigine.
History
The Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation was originally created as the Navajo Tribal Court of Appeals on 1 April 1959 as part of the implementation of the Navajo Tribal Council's establishment of the judiciary as a separate branch of government, the "Judicial Branch of the Navajo Nation Government". Originally it was thecourt of last resort
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
on the Navajo Nation. From 1978 to 1985Navajo Tribal Council (4 December 1985) the "Supreme Judicial Council", a political body rather than a court, could hear appeals, on a discretionary basis, from the Navajo Tribal Court of Appeals.
In December 1985 the Supreme Judicial Council was eliminated and the Navajo Tribal Court of Appeals became the Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation. It was expressly made the court of last resort.Austin, Raymond Darrel (2009) "The Navajo Nation court system" pp. 1–36page 31
''In'' Austin, Raymond Darrel (2009) ''Navajo Courts and Navajo Common Law: A Tradition of Tribal Self-Governance'' University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
See also
*Tribal sovereignty in the United States
Tribal sovereignty in the United States is the concept of the inherent authority of indigenous tribes to govern themselves within the borders of the United States.
Originally, the U.S. federal government recognized American Indian trib ...
References
External links
* * * * {{Navajo Nation Navajo Nation government Subnational supreme courts Navajo