Supreme Court of Sanctaria
| Supreme Court of Sanctaria | |
|---|---|
 Coat of Arms of Sanctaria | |
| Established | 19 November 1974 |
| Jurisdiction | Sanctaria |
| Location | Sanctus |
| Composition method | Government nomination with Senate confirmation |
| Authorized by | Constitution of Sanctaria |
| Judge term length | Life tenure |
| Number of positions | 9 |
| Chief Justice of Sanctaria | |
| Currently | Patrick Grey |
| Since | 01 September 2005 |
The Supreme Court of the Divine Federation of Sanctaria, more commonly known as the Supreme Court of Sanctaria or SCOSA, is the highest court in the federal judiciary of Sanctaria, established pursuant to the Constitution of Sanctaria in 1974. It has ultimate (and largely discretionary) appellate jurisdiction over all federal and state court cases that involve a point of federal law, and original jurisdiction over a narrow range of cases, for example suits between two or more states. The Court also holds the power of judicial review, the power to strike down laws which are inconsistent with the constitution.
The Court consists of the Chief Justice of Sanctaria and eight associate justices, each with lifetime tenure. When a vacancy occurs, the Government of Sanctaria, with the approval of the Senate, appoints a new justice. Each justice has a single vote. It meets in Sanctus.
Establishment
The Supreme Court, and the Sanctarian court system as a whole, was formally established on 19 November 1974 under the terms of the Constitution of Sanctaria which specified that Sanctaria would become independent on the death of Patriarch of the Church of Sanctaria, Aequitas IV. Prior to independence, the Papal Congregation on Faith was responsible for meting out punishment that broke canon law, which was the law of the Papal States. As such, on independence, all existing lawyers had been trained as canon lawyers, and had to retrain in principles of constitutional, criminal, and other areas of law. The Supreme Court did not hear a case for the first time until 1977, with the initial few years used for organisation and establishing procedures and rules.
Initial judges were academics, not lawyers, and as a result all these initial judges, including those justices on appellate courts such as the Supreme Court, were required by by law to retire by 1980. Legislation passed in 1979 specified all future justices of the Supreme Court would have life tenure. Many traditions now in the Sanctarian court system stem from traditions in the Papal Congregation of Faith because of these initial crossover years, with canonically trained lawyers introducing terms and procedures they were used to in the Congregation of Faith; to date all judges and justices are still referred to as Your Grace in oral arguments, after the term of deference used in the Congregation of Faith to refer to presiding Archbishops.
Membership
The Supreme Court consists of its president called the Chief Justice, and not more than eight ordinary members, called associate justices. The Supreme Court sits en banc, or as a whole, meaning all nine members hear a case. Occasionally a justice may be ill or may recuse themselves, in these instances no replacements are sought from lower courts and the Supreme Court hears the case with a member less. The minimum number of justices that must be available to hear a case is five.
Current justices
Justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President of Sanctaria, following nomination by the Government of Sanctaria and approval by the Senate. Members of the Supreme Court are listed below, beginning with the Chief Justice. Associate Justices are listed by length of service on the court.
| Justice birth year |
Chancellor nominated by |
Alma mater | Age at | Start date / length of service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Present | ||||
| Patrick Grey 1941 |
Dawson | Sanctus Academy of Law | 64 | 81 | September 1, 2005 20 years, 283 days |
| Matthieu Patrice 1938 |
Taylor | University College Corpus | 49 | 84 | July 25, 1987 38 years, 321 days |
| Joyce Keenahan 1945 |
Cox | Sanctus Academy of Law | 48 | 76 | February 12, 1994 32 years, 119 days |
| Trevor Woodhouse 1940 |
Cox | University of Saint-Owen | 57 | 82 | May 1, 1998 28 years, 41 days |
| Noreen Collins 1951 |
Dawson | Sanctus Academy of Law | 52 | 70 | November 11, 2003 22 years, 212 days |
| Jean-Claude Steele 1956 |
Dawson | Nicene University | 50 | 66 | December 4, 2006 19 years, 189 days |
| Richard McWilliams 1959 |
Turner | University College Sanctus | 57 | 63 | September 15, 2010 15 years, 269 days |
| Georgina Reding 1961 |
Turner | Sanctus Academy of Law | 51 | 60 | December 1, 2012 13 years, 192 days |
| Edmée Simon 1966 |
Hendry | Sanctus Academy of Law | 56 | 56 | October 6, 2022 3 years, 248 days |