Note (Back) — Chapter XXXIV

712. The Judiciary and Local Government.—The organs of judicial administration comprise courts of first instance, courts of appeal, and a supreme tribunal sitting at the capital. Judges are appointed for life, but may be removed from office in accordance with procedure to be established by law. The employment of the jury is optional with the parties in civil cases but obligatory in all criminal cases of serious import. With respect to local government the constitution goes no further than to lay down certain general principles and to enjoin that the actual working arrangements be regulated by subsequent legislation. Among the principles enumerated are the immunity of the local authorities from intervention on the part of the central executive power, the revision of the acts of the public officials in administrative tribunals, the fiscal independence of the local governmental units, and, finally, the employment for local purposes of both proportional representation and the referendum.[884]