Supreme court

In some countries, provinces and states, the supreme court functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be challenged. However, in some jurisdictions other phrases are used to describe the highest courts. There are also some jurisdictions where the supreme court is not the highest court.

Although some countries and subordinate states follow the American model of having a supreme court that interprets that jurisdiction's constitution, others follow the Austrian model of a separate constitutional court (first developed in the Austrian Constitution of 1920). The constitutionality of a law is implicit and cannot be challenged. Furthermore, in e.g. Finland, Sweden and Poland, there is a separate Supreme Administrative Court whose decisions are final and whose jurisdiction does not overlap with the Supreme Court.

Many higher courts create through their decisions case law applicable within their respective jurisdictions or interpret codal provisions in civil law countries to maintain a uniform interpretation: