The Arkansas Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Arkansas.

Since 1925, it has consisted of a Chief Justice and six Associate Justices, and at times Special Justices are called upon in the absence of a regular justice.

The Justices are elected in a non-partisan election for eight-year-long terms that are staggered to make it unlikely that the entire court would be replaced in a single election.

Any vacancy caused by a Justice not finishing his or her term is filled by an appointment made by the Governor of Arkansas.

The judiciary (also known as the judicial system or court system) is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state.

The judiciary also provides a mechanism for the resolution of disputes.

In some nations, under doctrines of separation of powers, the judiciary generally does not make law (which is the responsibility of the legislature) or enforce law (which is the responsibility of the executive), but rather interprets law and applies it to the facts of each case.

In other nations, the judiciary can make law, known as Common Law, by setting precedent for other judges to follow, as opposed to Statutory Law made by the legislature.

The Judiciary is often tasked with ensuring equal justice under law.

Criminal justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts.

Those accused of crime have some protections against abuse of investigatory and prosecution powers.

In law, a legal opinion is in certain jurisdictions a written explanation by a judge or group of judges that accompanies an order or ruling in a case, laying out the rationale and legal principles for the ruling.

Case law is the set of existing rulings which made new interpretations of law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents.

In some countries, such as the United States, the term is exclusively used for judicial decisions of selected appellate courts, courts of first instance, and other bodies discharging judicial functions.

In other countries, such as most European countries, the term is applied to any set of rulings on law which is guided by previous rulings, for example, patent office case law.

These interpretations are distinguished from statutory law which are the statutes and codes enacted by legislative bodies; regulatory law which are regulations established by governmental agencies based on statutes; and in some states, common law which are the generally accepted laws carried to the colonies and former colonies of England (USA, Australia, etc).

Trials and hearings which are not selected as 'courts of first impression' do not have rulings that become case law; therefore, these rulings cannot be precedents for future court decisions.