Chapter 8: Courts and Administration of Justice CHAPTER 8 couRtS And AdminiStRAtion of JuStice Judicial authority 165. (1) The judicial authority of the Republic is vested in the courts. (2) The courts are independent and subject only to the Constitution and the law, which they must apply impartially and without fear, favour or prejudice. (3) � No person or organ of state may interfere with the functioning of the courts. (4) � Organs of state, through legislative and other measures, must assist and protect the courts to ensure the independence, impartiality, dignity, accessibility and effectiveness of the courts. (5) � An order or decision issued by a court binds all persons to whom and organs of state to which it applies. (6) � The Chief Justice is the head of the judiciary and exercises responsibility over the establishment and monitoring of norms and standards for the exercise of the judicial functions of all courts. [Sub-s (6) added by s. 1 of the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Act of 2012.] Judicial system 166. The courts are— (a) the Constitutional Court; (b) � the Supreme Court of Appeal; (c) the High Court of South Africa, and any high court of appeal that may be established by an Act of Parliament to hear appeals from any court of a status similar to the High Court of South Africa; (d) the Magistrates’ Courts; and (e) any other court established or recognised in terms of an Act of Parliament, including any court of a status similar to either the High Court of South Africa or the Magistrates’ Courts. [Sub-s (c) and (e) substituted by s. 2 of the Constitution Seventeenth Amendment Act of 2012.] 85