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.
Civil procedure in South Africa
The magistrate's courts are the lower courts in South Africa. These are so-called "creatures of statute", governed by and created under the Magistrates' Courts Act, and therefore do not have inherent jurisdiction. This means that they may only hear matters prescribed by the Act. There are two kinds: the district Magistrate's Court and the Regional Magistrate's Court. The Republic of South Africa is divided into magisterial districts and regional divisions, and each has a magistrates' court. The Regional Court was previously only a criminal court; however, since August 2010, it has also had civil jurisdiction. Matters in the magistrate's court are presided over by a magistrate under the leadership of a Chief magistrate.