Mandate
The Judiciary of Somalia is defined by the Provisional Constitution of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Adopted on August 1, 2012 by a National Constitutional Assembly in Mogadishu. According to article 105 (1) the Judicial Authority of the Federal Republic of Somalia is vested in the courts and shall be established as independent from the legislative and executive branches of government whilst fulfilling its judicial functions.
The national court structure is organized into three tiers: The Constitutional Court, Federal Government level courts and Federal Member State level courts. A nine-member Judicial Service Commission appoints any Federal tier member of the judiciary. It also selects and presents potential Constitutional Court judges to the House of the People of the Federal Parliament for approval. If endorsed, the President appoints the candidate as a judge of the Constitutional Court. The five-member Constitutional Court adjudicates issues pertaining to the constitution, in addition to various Federal and sub-national matters.
Article 5 of the law of judicial organization of 1962, the Supreme Court shall have its seat in Mogadishu and shall have jurisdiction over the whole territory of the country. It shall consist of the president, a vice President and four Judges. The Supreme Court shall ensure respect for, and the uniform application of the law, and other function as may be attributed to it by the constitution or by law.
Cases before the Supreme Court shall be heard by a division of bench of three judges, such bench shall have jurisdiction over: appeal against judgement given by any court in its appellate jurisdiction or against judgment given by any court from which appeals lie directly to the Supreme Court; petitions against final decisions of public administration; petitions relating to the rendering of accounts by officers handling public funds and petitions for revision of judgments in criminal matters.
A full bench of the Supreme Court shall consist of five judges and shall have jurisdiction over petitions disputing the validity of the election of disputes to the national assembly, in accordance with the constitution; controversies relating to conflict of jurisdiction or competence among judicial organs and any other matters considered by the president to be importance, even though such matters is within the scope of the previous paragraph