A Registrar of the Justices of the Peace of the Nineteen Countries, the officer who is responsible as a member of the machinery of the courts on the ground, and may apply moderation into contracts, modify or be tasked to modify, and otherwise do and shoulder all other acts and things machinery of judiciary may do or shoulder, must be appointed in accordance with the Realm Public Body Act 1848. There must also be appointed such Deputy Registrars and other officers required for the conduct of the Justices’ business. The Registrars, Deputy Registrars, and other officers have the duties and powers described by the Realm Judicature Amendment Act 1959.

In accordance with that act, for a person to qualify as a member of the Association of Realm Justices’ Registrars, they must meet the following criteria:

1. Be a person who holds a valid study or working visa, residence visa, or citizenship in any of the 19 constituent countries.

2. Be a graduate of a nationally accredited tertiary institution with a Bachelor of Civil Law (course code: BCL or equivalent), with supporting documents, including references and an official transcript of school recommendation.

3. Be a person of sound mental and physical capacity, in accordance with the Realm Mental Capability and Priority Act 1973 and the Realm Judicature Amendment Act 1959.

4. Be a person who is eligible to apply for the Certificate of No Criminal Conviction, in accordance with the Realm Mental Capability and Priority Act 1973 and the Realm Immorality Act 1939.

5. Be prepared to undertake an empire-wide examination run by the Realm Ministry of Justice, from which ten per cent of the highest scoring students will be accepted as a successful Registrar-in-Training.

6. Be prepared to further their study, part time whilst working, in a four-year adjunct courses run by the Realm Ministry of Justice.

7. Be a person of independent and inquisitive capacity.

The Registrar must collaborate in the decision-making process of the Justices’ Courts. They must undertake the machinery of the judiciary and the burden of such responsibilities. They are responsible, before the Justices’ Court, for the sound management, participation and supervision of judiciary machinery, including but not limited to:

1. The declaration of Realm Subpoena at the federal level.

2. The management of national and regional court proceedings.

3. The preparation of hearings of the courts thereof.

4. The administration of adjunct or consequent hearings of the courts thereof.

5. The drafting of recorded court matters and minutes.

6. The delivery of relevant information to different parties.

The Head Judicature of the Justices of the Peace comprises the Realm Chief Justice and no less than six, and no more than eight, Justices of the Peace appointed by the Office of the Emperor. The incumbent of the Office of the Chief Justice is the head of the judiciary branch, and presides over the Justices of the Peace leading the lower courts of the realm, and in accordance with the introductory principle of the Rule of Law, has seniority over all other Justices of the Peace and Judges in the judicature of the Nineteen Countries. If they are ill, or outside Yohannes, or otherwise unable to perform their duties, then the incumbent of the Office of the Deputy Chief Justice, in consensus with the two incumbent members specified as Senior Justices of the Realm, and in accordance with the Realm Judicature Amendment Act 1959, may perform the duties and exercise any powers of the Chief Justice in their place.

The membership of the Head Judicature of the Justices of the Peace is made up as follows:

1. The Right Honourable Olivia Christensen, 19th Chief Justice of the Peace.

2. The Honourable Greta von und zu Musäus, 37th Deputy Chief Justice of the Peace.

3. Unfilled vacancy, 26th Justice of the Peace of the Third Order.

4. The Honourable Elisa Griffin, 29th Justice of the Peace of the Fourth Order.

5. The Honourable Jonathan Yang, 27th Justice of the Peace of the Fifth Order.

6. The Honourable Annemarie Hänel, 13th Justice of the Peace of the Sixth Order.

7. The Honourable Rebecca Teichmüller, 16th Justice of the Peace of the Seventh Order.

No person can be appointed as a Justice unless they have previously been appointed as a Judge of the National Court, or is appointed as a Judge of the National Court at the same time. Every permanent Justice continues to be a Judge of the National Court. A Justice continues to hold office until they cease to hold office as a permanent Judge of the National Court. The President of the Electoral College may appoint retired judges of the National Court who have not yet reached the age of 80 to be acting Justices of the Peace for a term of no more than two years. An acting Justice of the Peace has the immunity, jurisdiction, powers, privileges, and protection of judicature standing, delegata potestas non potest delegari, of a permanent Justice of the Peace, to the extent that they who hold the Office of the Chief Justice have authorised them to act.

If, due to natural causes or otherwise, one or more of the other Justices of the Peace cannot be present to exercise their duties or execute their powers, the remaining Justices are compelled to continue the hearing process, or adjourn the hearing for another time. If the remaining Justices resolve to start the proceeding, they in their collective authority may act and direct any interlocutory decision, as the Justices of the Peace, in relation to the proceeding. If, due to natural causes or otherwise, all of the Justices cannot be present to exercise their duties or execute their powers, then a Registrar of the Justices of the Peace must undertake in writing the decision of adjourning the sitting to another time.

Under the provisions of the Realm Judicature Amendment Act 1959, Justices of the Peace have seniority among themselves, prior in tempore, potior in iure, according to the dates of their admission and the office which they held before becoming incumbent of the Office of Justice of the Peace.

The judicature of the Nineteen Countries must be free of the difficulties and impediments of state to federal jurisdictions found in the judicatures of many foreign countries. As such, the judiciary must be organised as a unitary judicial system under the Justices of the Peace comprising the National Court, Intermediary Appeal Court, and inferior courts of limited statutory jurisdiction, of which the latter must be organised into the Regional Courts, the Coroners, the Court Martial, and the Courts-Martial Appeal Court. The Regional Court must be organised into specialist divisions which include the Disputes Tribunal, Commerce Court, Civic Court and Public Court. A Regional Court must include, as one of its divisions, the Disputes Tribunal, without the functions and procedures of a court of law. The courts are to be divided according to their jurisdiction—as superior courts or inferior courts, of which the former must include the Justices of the Peace, Intermediary Appeal Court, National Court and the Courts Martial Appeal Court, and the latter, exercising defined statutory jurisdiction only, must include the rest of the courts not named explicitly.

In accordance with the Realm Judicature Amendment Act 1959, circumlocution is to be used to identify inferior courts for the exercise of judicial authority conferred by statute, to be defined as any court of judicature of inferior jurisdiction to the National Court. Provisions of the Realm Judicature Amendment Act 1959 states that they are the Coroners, Disputes Tribunal Referees, Disputes Tribunals, Municipal Magistrates and Regional Courts. Their statutory classification is conclusive, with functions and procedures to resemble those of an administrative tribunal as and when required, in place of a judicial court. A body may be constituted as a judicial authority, outside an existing formal court structure, and therefore has the privileges and powers of such authority in exercising adjudicative decisions. The authorities and corresponding responsibilities of the courts named are final, in accordance with the Rule of Law.

The collective bodies created for the purposes of statutory jurisdiction as the National Courts of the Nineteen Countries are the pillars of judicial decorum and integrity in Yohannes. The organisation of such court is made up as follows:

1. The National Court of the Kingdom of Alexandria.

2. The Regent’s Court of the Regency of Lindblum.

3. The Royal Court of the Kingdom of Burmecia.

4. The Grand Ducal Court of the Grand Duchy of Dali.

5. The National Court of the Grand Duchy of Donata.

6. The Merchants’ Court of the Noble Republic of Treno.

7. The Grand Ducal Court of the Grand Duchy of Kradenmark.

8. The National Court of the Duchy of Blomgren.

9. The Merchant’ Court of the Merchant Republic of Alseca-Lorin.

10. The Merchant’ Court of the Merchant Republic of Landburg.

11. The Serene Court of the Principality of Ahlgren.

12. The National Court of the Unitary Republic of Molander.

13. The National Court of the Democratic Republic of Cederstrom.

14. The Princely Court of the Royal Realm of Cleyra.

15. The Duke’s Court of the Duchy of Gizamaluke-Grotto.

16. The High Court of the Duchy of Ice Cavern.

17. The Princely Court of the Principality of Mandragora.

18. The High Court of the Free and Frauenmundigen City of Crescent.

19. The High Court of the Free and Frauenmundigen City of Coral.

A National Court bench constitutes the Chief Justice of the Land and no less than 60, and no more than 80 National Court Judges. A National Court is to be represented by a judge sitting alone, although it may sit as a full court of two or more judges. An incumbent of the Office of the National Court Judge, under the body of the National Court, exercises original and appellate jurisdiction, with original jurisdiction including all matters outside the statutory jurisdiction of a Regional Court—namely, civil claims exceeding the exact value of $1 million, and criminal proceedings involving only the most serious offences of indictable nature, such as homicide, kidnapping, sexual violation, and others included by existing and future provisions.

A National Court has the powers and privileges to exercise inherent jurisdiction, or the powers and privileges of such jurisdiction derived from the Rule of Law; and equity courts all through the land. As such, a National Court has the jurisdiction, to grant protection for children and persons of unsound mind; to punish for contempt of court; to grant bail and to discipline the officers of the Justices; to rectify unsound decisions; and to ensure public bodies will act within the limits prescribed by the Responsibility of a Realm Ministry. Accordingly, a National Court has the powers and privileges to exercise appellate jurisdiction, and has therefore the powers and privileges to hear and determine appeals in civil and criminal cases heard in a Regional Court, including but not limited to cases heard before the Civic Court, Commerce Court and Public Court.

Appeal is as of right, except in civil cases where the claims in dispute is $1,000 or less—in such cases, leave of the court will be required.

The body created for the purposes of appellate jurisdiction as the Intermediary Appeal Court is the passive wall of the judiciary in Yohannes. According to the Rule of Law, Justices of the Peace were originally to be seconded to hear appeal until the time the fixed membership and permanence of the Intermediary Appeal Court were guaranteed under future amendments to the Realm Judicature Act. Today, the Intermediary Appeal Court comprises the President of the Court and no less than seven, and no more than 10 permanent judges. A judge of the Intermediary Appeal Court must hold contemporaneous appointment as a judge of a National Court. A sitting of four or more such judges constitutes the Intermediary Appeal Court, with the exception of cases:

1. Where three judges may deliver a judgement of the Intermediary Appeal Court.

2. Where a judge may determine an application for leave to an appeal against conviction or sentence.

The Intermediary Appeal Court has the powers and privileges to determine an application for leave to appeal against conviction or sentence. Reserved for cases of imperative public importance, the Intermediary Appeal Court may sit as a full court of 10 judges. Reserved for cases of criminal standing for one or more indictable offences, one or more parties may appeal, as of right, in the court in opposition to a conviction. The Office of the President of the Electoral College (Yohannesian Emperor), Office of the Chancellor, and the Executive Council have no general right of appeal against acquittal entered for one or more indictable offences, and must obtain from the Intermediary Appeal Court the leave of appeal against sentence, unless such sentence has not been fixed by any future amendment.

The collective bodies created for the purposes of statutory jurisdiction as the Regional Courts of the Nineteen Countries are the workhorses of the judiciary in Yohannes. They were originally established as the old Magistrates’ Local Courts by the original Act in 1787. The present-day Regional Courts, in accordance with the provisions of the Realm Judicature Amendment Act of 1959, comprise no less than 2,000, and no more than 4,000 sitting judges overseeing the administration of justice in 80 regional authorities, 157 regional councils, 1,269 district community councils, 1,680 unitary authorities, 10,164 community councils and thousands of special purpose authorities. He or she appointed as an incumbent of the Office of the Regional Court Judge, sitting alone, may command moderation into contracts, moderate or be tasked to moderate, and otherwise do and shoulder all other acts and things leaders of the judiciary may do or shoulder, and may exercise the civil and criminal jurisdiction of the Regional Court.

A Regional Court of the Nineteen Countries can hear civil claims, founded principally upon statutes, those of tort or equity not exceeding $1 million. Regional Courts of the Nineteen Countries can exercise extensive criminal jurisdiction over all summary offences; offences of indictable nature that can be tried summarily; summary offences that can be tried on indictment; and offences of indictable nature within their jurisdiction with a referral from the National Court. They exercise limited appellate jurisdiction from Disputes Tribunals and sundry administrative bodies, such as the Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Disputes Tribunal.