The High Court of Justice

The three judges

The Court has always had three judges and no more. One is named President of the Court by the other two. Judges hold office for life or until they choose to retire, and none has ever been removed. By custom at least one judge comes from outside the Valdoria Valley.

What the Court hears

• Appeals from the regional courts of the five regions
• Any question of the meaning of the Charter
• Disputes between the Council and the High Warden, of which there have been four since 1723
• Matters concerning the Register of Citizens

The Court sits in public. Judgments are short, written in plain Luxian and English, and read aloud by the President before they are published.

The Court House

The Court House stands on the north side of Charter Square, opposite the Warden's House, so that, in the words of Zevi the Great, "the Warden and the law look each other in the eye." The courtroom is stone with a high vaulted ceiling, and the judges' chairs face the window and Mount Cinder beyond it.

Regional courts

Each region has a court of first instance sitting in its main town. Most matters end there. The High Court hears perhaps thirty cases a year.