Politics of Eritrea - Judicial Branch

Judicial Branch

The judiciary operates independently of both the legislative and executive bodies, with a court system that extends from the village through to the regional and national levels. The structure has three tiers, the local "community courts", the regional courts and the national High Court.

Village judges are elected, though typically they are the village elders. A community court consists of three judges/magistrates. "There are a total of 683 community courts across the country with the number of magistrates totaling to 2,049, i.e. 55 in the Central Region, 213 in the South, 178 in Gash-Barka, 109 in Anseba, 98 in the Northern and 30 in the Southern Red Sea regions." The community courts work on the basis of the area, the local rules and customs. If a dispute cannot be resolved in the community courts it can be appealed to the next level of judicial administration, the regional courts.