Supreme Court of Cygnia (Joan of What?)

The Supreme Court of the Empire of the United Cygnian States is the highest federal court of Cygnia. Established pursuant to Article III of the Cygnian Imperial Constitution in 1793, it has ultimate (and largely discretionary) appellate jurisdiction over all federal courts and over state court cases involving issues of federal law, plus original jurisdiction over a small range of cases. In the legal system of Cygnia, the Supreme Court is the final interpreter of imperial constitutional law, although it may only act within the context of a case in which it has jurisdiction.

The Court normally consists of the Chief Justice of Cygnia and eight associate justices who are nominated by the Chancellor and confirmed by the Senate. Once appointed, justices have life tenure unless they resign, retire, or are removed after impeachment (though no justice has ever been removed). In modern discourse, the justices are often categorised as having conservative, moderate, or liberal philosophies of law and of judicial interpretation. Each justice has one vote, and while many cases are decided unanimously, the highest profile cases often expose ideological beliefs that track with those philosophical or political categories. The Court meets in the Cygnian Supreme Court Building in Swanstone.