l, assistant
judges participate.

Trials are generally open to the public. In order to facilitate the
political and social education of the population, courts are held in
places of employment, villages, and any other place that makes them more
accessible to the people.

Assistant judges from the district courts and several social activists
make up the village and city courts. The social activists are elected
for one-year terms by a people's meeting. This level of the court system
has jurisdiction over minor social crimes and simple civil cases.

The district courts are composed of a chairman, judges, and assistant
judges. The judges are elected for three-year terms by the general
population, and the People's Council appoints the chairman from among
the elected judges. The district courts have original jurisdiction in
all penal and civil cases unless otherwise specified by law. They also
hear appeals from lower court decisions.

Military courts, called military collegiums, are appointed by the
Presidium of the People's Assembly to operate at the district level.
They are composed of a military judge and several military assistant
judges. These courts have original jurisdiction over crimes committed by
military personnel.

The highest court is the Supreme Court. It has original jurisdiction in
important cases that the chairman of the Supreme court takes over from
the district courts. It also hears appeals from the rulings of all lower
courts.

Supreme Court judges are elected for four-year terms by the People's
Assembly. The court consists of a chairman, deputy chairmen, and
assistant judges, the exact number being determined by the Presidium of
the People's Assembly. The Supreme Court is broken down into collegiums
to handle different types of cases, such as penal, civil, and military.
It also sits in a plenum in order to issue directives concerning legal
practices, to hear appeals from decisions made by its collegium, and to
study the operation of the court system in its entirety.

POLITICAL DYNAMICS

The Dictatorship of the Proletariat

As officially defined by the Constitution, the state is a form of
dictatorship of the proletariat. The power of the state constitutionally
belongs to the workers and peasants, represented locally by the people's
councils, which supposedly make up the political base of the state. In
legislation and in official documents dealing with elections, it has
been stated that the peo