Judiciary of Brazil

rdf:langString Judiciary of Brazil

rdf:langString The Judiciary of Brazil is the group of public entities designated by the Brazilian constitution to carry out the country's judicial functions. Brazil's 1988 constitution has adopted a tripartite separation of powers, with a Legislative power, an Executive power, and a Judiciary power. Aside from those, the country also has the Public Ministry which acts autonomously and has in the past been referred to as the country's fourth branch. In terms of jurisdiction, the main division is between Common Justice (Portuguese: Justiça Comum) and Specialized Justice (Portuguese: Justiça Especializada). Common Justice, composed of Federal and State Justices (and the Federal District's own Justice), handles most civil and criminal cases. Specialized Justice, composed of Electoral, Military and Labor Justices, handles more specialized cases which also have their own specific procedures. The Constitution divided the Judiciary in nine organizations: the Supreme Federal Court (Portuguese: Supremo Tribunal Federal or "STF"); the National Justice Council (Portuguese: Conselho Nacional de Justiça or "CNJ"); the Superior Court of Justice (Portuguese: Superior Tribunal de Justiça or "STJ"); the Superior Labour Court (Portuguese: Tribunal Superior do Trabalho or "TST"); the Regional Federal Courts (Portuguese: Tribunais Regionais Federais or "TRFs") and Federal Judges; the Labor Courts and Judges; the Electoral Courts and Judges, the Military Courts and Judges; and the Courts and Judges of the States, Federal District and Territories. There is no judicial organization on the Municipality level.