Constitutional Council (France)
The Government of France consists of an executive branch (President of the Republic, Prime Minister, ministers, and their services and affiliated organizations), a legislative branch (both houses of Parliament), and a judicial branch. The judicial branch is, unlike for instance the federal judiciary of the United States under the Supreme Court, not organized into a single hierarchy (administrative courts fall under the Council of State, civil and criminal courts under the Court of Cassation), and some of its entities also have advisory functions. For historical reasons there has long been a hostility to having anything resembling a "Supreme Court"—that is, a powerful court able to quash legislation. Whether the Council is a court is a subject of academic discussion, but some scholars consider it the supreme court of France.
Politics of the Netherlands
It is important to realise that the Netherlands does not have a traditional separation of powers: according to the Constitution the States General and the government (the King and the Ministers) share the legislative power. All legislation has to pass through the Council of State (Dutch: "Raad van State") for advice and the Social-Economic Council advises the government on most social-economic legislation. The executive power is reserved for government. Note however that the Social Economic Council has the special right to make and enforce legislation on several sectors, mostly in agriculture. The judicial power is divided into two separate systems of courts. For civil and criminal law the independent Supreme Court is the highest court. For administrative law the "Raad van State" is the highest court, which is "ex officio" chaired by the King.