Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation

According to Harvard Law School, "the judicial system of the Navajo Nation is the most active tribal judicial system in the United States, with a case load that rivals, and in some instances exceeds, many municipal, county, and state judicial systems.

"[1] The Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation sits in Window Rock.

[2] It is a three-member body consisting of the Chief Justice JoAnn Jayne, and Associate Justices Eleanor Shirley and Tina Tsinigine.

From 1978[5] to 1985[6] the "Supreme Judicial Council", a political body rather than a court, could hear appeals, on a discretionary basis, from the Navajo Tribal Court of Appeals.

In December 1985 the Supreme Judicial Council was eliminated and the Navajo Tribal Court of Appeals became the Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments at Yale Law School in New Haven , Connecticut , on November 14, 2011. Pictured are former Chief Justice Herb Yazzie (center), Justice Eleanor Shirley (left), and Justice Wilson Yellowhair (right, sitting by special designation).