Eritrea 1997 Constitution

CHAPTER VI. THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

Article 48. The Judiciary

1. The judicial power shall be vested in a Supreme Court and in such other lower courts as shall be established by law and shall be exercised in the name of the people pursuant to this Constitution and laws issued thereunder.
2. In exercising the judicial power, courts shall be free from the direction and control of any person or authority. Judges shall be subject only to the law, to a judicial code of conduct determined by law and to their conscience.
3. A judge shall not be liable to any suit for any act in the course of exercising his judicial function.
4. All organs of the State shall accord to the courts such assistance as they may require to protect their independence and dignity so that they may exercise their judicial power appropriately and effectively pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution and laws issued thereunder.

Article 49. The Supreme Court

1. The Supreme Court shall be the court of last resort; and shall be presided over by the Chief Justice.
2. The Supreme Court shall have:
   1. sole jurisdiction of interpreting this Constitution and the constitutionality of any law enacted or any action taken by government;
   2. sole jurisdiction of hearing and adjudicating upon charges against a President who has been impeached by the National Assembly pursuant to the provisions of Article 41(6)(a) and (b) hereof; and
   3. the power of hearing and adjudicating cases appealed from lower courts pursuant to law.
3. The Supreme Court shall determine its internal organization and operation.
4. The tenure and number of justices of the Supreme Court shall be determined by law.

Article 50. Lower Courts

The jurisdiction, organization and function of lower courts and the tenure of their judges shall be determined by law.

Article 51. Oath

Every judge shall take the following oath:

I, ……………………., swear in …………………. that I will adjudicate in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and laws enacted thereunder and I will exercise the judicial authority vested in me, subject only to the law and my conscience.

Article 52. Removal of Judges from Office

1. A judge may be removed from office before the expiry of his tenure of office by the President only, acting on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission, pursuant to the provisions of Sub-Article 2 of this Article for physical or mental incapacity, violation of the law or breach of judicial code of conduct.
2. The Judicial Service Commission shall investigate whether or not a judge should be removed from office on grounds of those enumerated in Sub-Article 1 of this Article. In the event that the Judicial Service Commission decides that a judge be removed from office, it shall present its recommendation to the President.
3. The President may, on the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission, suspend from office a judge who is under investigation.

Article 53. The Judicial Service Commission

1. There shall be established a Judicial Service Commission, which shall be responsible for submitting recommendations for the recruitment of judges and the terms and conditions of their services.
2. The organization, powers and duties of the Judicial Service Commission shall be determined by law.

Article 54. The Advocate General

There shall be an Advocate General whose powers and duties shall be determined by law.