Editing Politics of Eritrea (section)

==== Civil Court ====
At the lowest level of the Eritrean judiciary, the Civil Court eases the pressures of the higher courts by ruling on minor infractions of the law with sums less than 110,000 nakfa, or {{Formatnum:{{To USD|110000|Eritrea|round=yes}}}} US dollars.<ref name=":0" /> Notably, there are multiple divisions within the Civil Court; the structure has three tiers, the local "community courts," the regional courts and the national [[High Court of Eritrea|High Court]].

The community courts work on the basis of the area, the local rules and customs. At the bottom tier, they operate on a single-judge bench system where only one judge presides over each case. Here, village judges are elected, though typically they are the village elders and do not possess formal training.<ref name=":0" /> Although these judges mainly preside over civil cases, those who are well-versed in criminal law may rule on these kinds of cases as well.<ref name=":0" /> Within Eritrea, There are a total of 683 community courts across the country, with the number of magistrates totalling to 2,049, i.e. 55 in the Central Region, 213 in the South, 178 in Gash-Barka, 109 in Anseba, 98 in the Northern and 30 in the Southern Red Sea regions."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shaebia.org/artman/publish/article_4206.html|title=Community Courts: Helping Citizens Settle Disputes out of Courts|date=2005-11-23|publisher=PFDJ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060929111536/http://www.shaebia.org/artman/publish/article_4206.html <!-- Bot retrieved archive -->|archive-date=2006-09-29|access-date=2006-06-08}}</ref> If a dispute cannot be resolved in the community courts it can be appealed to the next level of judicial administration, the regional courts, natively known as Zoba Courts, which operate on a three-judge bench system.<ref name=":0" /> The Zoba Courts adjudicate civil, criminal, and ''Shari’a'' law, the last of which handles cases regarding members of the Islam faith.<ref name=":0" /> Decisions in the Zoba Courts can be appealed to the High Courts, which is primarily appellate in nature but also operates as a first-instance court for murder, rape, and serious felonies. This three-judge bench system holds jurisdiction in civil, criminal, commercial, and ''Shari’a'' law.<ref name=":0" /> Final appeals from the High Court are taken to the Supreme Court with a panel of five judges. The president of this Supreme Court is the president of the High Court, as well, and is accompanied by four other judges from the High Court to interpret the law.<ref name=":0" />