Imperial Court Of Cassation
The Imperial Court of Cassation is the court of last resort in the Imperium. It comprises over two-thousand judges and assistant judges. Although it claims independence from the Emperor, the Emperor is the sole source of appointments, which leads to a high degree of cronism. The court also includes several thousand prosecutors.
Justices appointed to this court serve a single 24 year term. Chief Justices serve at the pleasure of the Emperor, further weakening the independence of the Court.
The primary purpose of the court is to handle appeals from lower jurisdictions. In order to limit the number of appeals, there is an imposed rule that parties involved on the suit must be from seperate star systems. This keeps local issues within the System Courts of Cassation.
The Imperium Courts have an odd mix of civil and common law. An attempt by the Emperor and Imperial Congress to legislate every issue and thus preempt common law has only served to strengthen the role of common law. This is primarily due to the role of common law in statutory interpretation.
However, the common law is really based upon interstellar custom that existed prior to the Imperium. Custom was determined by treaties between systems as well as common practices found among a majority of the more developed star systems. Thus, the common law is an intricate web of old custom and practices.