NATIONAL JUDICIAL SYSTEMS
The Member State judicial systems are very diverse, reflecting differences in national judicial traditions.

Judicial Systems In Member States – Algeria
This section provides you with an overview of the national judiciary system and court system in Algeria.
Organisation of justice – judicial systems
The Algerian Legal System
The separation of powers leads to a distribution of activities among the three branches of government:
The president and his administration see to the implementation of the law;
Parliament is responsible for civil and criminal legislation;
Courts make decisions on civil and criminal cases;
The Judicial Power
The Algerian constitution provides that judicial power is independent. Procedure law organizes the judicial power.
Jurisdictions of the 1st Degree: the Courts
In fact, jurisdictions of common right are qualified for all the litigation relating to civil proceedings, commercial or social. They are the court of first resort in the following matters:
all the movable and real actions whose amount does not exceed 2000DA ($1 = 11 dinar).
all the actions relating to rights whose amount does not exceed 300 DA.
infringements of the transportation system
disputes relating to the rural beams, habitation and of professional use, the commercial beams
The Jurisdictions of the 2nd Degree: the Courts of Appeals
There are 48 courts of appeals in the Algerian territory. They are courts of jurisdiction for all the calls formed against the judgments given in all matters by the courts in the first resort. In the same way, they know, in last spring, of the demands for payment of judges, when the conflict relates to two jurisdictions within the competence of the same court and the requests for challenge directed against the courts of their spring. The courts are qualified, in the first resort, for any litigation relating to the State (or one its districts).
Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has the highest jurisdiction. The appeals in cassation can be introduced to the Supreme Court only for the following:
Incompetence or abuse of power
Basic lack of legal merit
Violation or omission of the substantial forms of the rules of procedure
Defect, insufficiency or contradictions of reasons
Violation or distortions to application of the law interns or foreign law relating to the personal statute
Contradicting decisions of different courts and returned in last spring.
The Administrative Jurisdictions
The Administrative Courts are qualified jurisdictions of common right for administrative disputes.
The State Council
The creation of the State Council is very recent. Organic law of May 30 1998 instituted this jurisdiction. The state Council is regarded as a regulating body of the administrative jurisdiction activity. It concerns the judicial power and ensures unification of administrative jurisprudence through the country and takes care of the respect of the law. It has two kinds of competence of the jurisdictions: The state council is qualified for the recourse in first and the last arises for:
actions in cancellation formed against the lawful or individual decisions returned by the central administrative authorities, of the national public institutions and the national professional organizations;
actions in interpretation and appreciation of the legality of the acts which concern the administrative dispute.
Court of Auditors
The Court of Auditors is in charge of control of the public purses, local authorities and public services. The Court of Auditors draws up an annual report which it addresses to the President of the Republic. The law determines attributions, the organization and the operation of the Court of Auditors and the sanction of its investigations.
Other Authorities
The Constitutional Council
The Constitutional Council is charged to take care of the respect of the Constitution and the regularity of the operations of referendum, the election of the President of the Republic and legislative elections. He proclaims the results of these operations.
The Constitutional Council is composed of nine (9) members:
three (3) indicated by the President of the Republic of which the President,
two (2) elected officials by the National Assembly,
two (2) elected officials by the Council of the Nation,
one (1) elected official by the Supreme Court,
one (1) elected official by the Council of State.
The President of the Republic indicates, for six (6) years a single mandate, the President of the Constitutional Council. The other members of the Constitutional Council fill six (6) years a single mandate and are renewed per half all the three (3) years.
In addition to other attributions which are expressly conferred to him by other provisions of the Constitution, the Constitutional Council comes to a conclusion about the constitutionality of the treaties, laws and payments, is by an opinion if those are not made executory, that is to say by a decision in the contrary case.
Advisory Authorities
The High Islamic Council
The High Islamic Council is composed of fifteen members, from of which a President, indicated by the President of the Republic, among high national competence in various sciences. The High Islamic Council is charged in particular:
to encourage and promote the ijtihad (case-law in Moslem right);
to give its opinion in comparison with the religious regulations on what is subjected to him;
to present a periodic report of activity to the President of the Republic.
The High Security Council
The High Security Council chaired by the President of the Republic; this body is charged with providing opinions on all questions relating to national security.
Legislation (Codes, Cases, Treaties)
The National Assembly of People and the Senate are online sources for laws.
There is no special organization in the official edition of the codes. In fact, private publishers publish these codes in the form of books or CD-ROMs.
LexAlgeria, Algerian legal portal
The portal of Justice department
BERTI codes, Algiers
Algerian Civil Law Code, book and CD-ROM
Algerian Civil Procedure, book and CD-ROM
Algerian Criminal Code, book and CD-ROM
Algerian Criminal Procedure Code, book and CD-ROM
Algerian Customs Code, book and CD-ROM
Algerian Commercial Code, book and CD-ROM
University Publications Office, OPU codes, Algiers
Algerian Criminal Code
Algerian Civil Procedure Code
Code of the Marital Status
Case Law
Cour Suprême
Conseil d’Etat
Constitutional Council, which publishes constitutional jurisprudence.
Revue de la jurisprudence de la cour suprême, service de la documentation à la cour suprême, éditions la maison de la Casbah, Alger.
Revue du conseil d’Etat, revue semestrielle publiée parle Conseil d’Etat, Alger.
Legal Database
The website of the Official Gazette “The Essentials of the Law” contains statutes and decrees from 1962.
contains information about the judiciary, the Ministry of Justice, the respective competences of and contact details for various offices.
The website of the Bibilothèque Nationale contains Literature (Textbooks on Civil Law, Administrative Constitutional Law, Criminal Law). Most Algerian law books are published in French.
Useful national links
National Institute of Magistrature
Official portal
LexAlgeria – the first portal of Algerian law.
Legisnet – contains all Algerian constitutions.