s on constitutionality of
laws and decrees; justices appointed for four-year terms by the
President); Court of Cassation; Appeals Courts (Appeals Courts
represent an intermediate level between the Court of Cassation and
local level courts); local level - Magistrate Courts; Courts of
First Instance; Juvenile Courts; Customs Courts; specialized courts
- Economic Security Courts (hear cases related to economic crimes);
Supreme State Security Court (hear cases related to national
security); Personal Status Courts (religious; hear cases related to
marriage and divorce)

Political parties and leaders:
note - legal parties include: National Progressive Front or NPF
[President Bashar al-ASAD, Dr. Suleiman QADDAH, deputy] (includes
Arab Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party [President Bashar al-ASAD,
secretary; Muhammad BAKHITAN, assistant secretary general]; Arab
Socialist Renaissance (Ba'th) Party [President Bashar al-ASAD,
secretary general; Muhammad BAKHITAN, assistant secretary general];
Socialist Unionist Democratic Party [Fadlallah Nasr Al-DIN]; Syrian
Arab Socialist Union or ASU [Safwan QUDSI]; Syrian Communist Party
(two branches) [Wissal Farha BAKDASH, Yusuf Rashid FAYSAL]; Syrian
Social National Party [Jubran URAYJI]; Unionist Socialist Party
[Fayez ISMAIL]); illegal parties include: Kurdish Azadi Party [Khayr
al-Din MURAD]; Kurdish Democratic Alliance (includes four parties)
[Abd al-Hamid DARWISH, secretary general]; Kurdish Democratic Front
(includes three parties but no designated leader); Kurdish
Democratic Union Party or PYD [Ali MUHAMMAD]; Kurdish Future
Movement; Kurdish Yekiti Party [Hasan SALEH]; National Democratic
Front [Hassan Abd al-AZEM];

Political pressure groups and leaders:
Damascus Declaration [Riyad SEIF, secretary general] (a broad
alliance of opposition groups including: Committee for Revival of
Civil Society [Michel KILO, Riyad SEIF]; Kurdish Democratic
Alliance; Kurdish Democratic Front; National Democratic Front;
Syrian Human Rights Society or HRAS [Fawed FAWUZ]); National
Salvation Front (alliance between former Vice President Abd al-Halim
KHADDAM, the SMB, and other small opposition groups); Syrian Muslim
Brotherhood or SMB [Sadr al-Din al-BAYANUNI]; (operates in exile in
London; endorsed the Damascus Declaration but is not an official
member)

International organization participation:
ABEDA, AFESD, AMF, CAEU, FAO,