Judicial System of the Linnington Duchy

Though Linnington Duchy is technically a part of the larger Kingdom of Terastios, it generally functions apart from the kingdom and under its own laws. Laws are written and signed into law by Duke Linnington, who generally does so upon an issue being voted upon and decided by the members of his Council. Any disputes between citizens are then generally decided upon by judges who interpret the laws that the Duke has signed. The position of Duke is inherited, the role passing upon his death to his oldest male heir - theoretically, the role could pass to a female heir if there were no male to inherit, but thus far in the almost 500 years of Maginsula's existence, this has not happened, as almost every Duke has had a son. In the two cases when a Duke did not have a son, he had no children at all, and the succession subsequently went to his younger brother in each of those cases. The succession has always been upon the death of a duke, though there was one case in history wherein a Duke who was quite aged and senile remained Duke only in name, while his son took over the active duties of running the Duchy two years before he actually passed away.
In the Linnington Duchy, there are many smaller towns, as well as the one large city of Maginsula. Every town has a town judge, appointed by the Count or Countess who heads that particular town. In almost every case, these end up being family members of the noble families, often second or third born children who were not in line to inherit their family's main fortune anyway, but at least can achieve a role as a judge in order to gain some prestige and income for themselves.
As for Maginsula, because it is well-populated, there are in fact five judges, any one of whom can be appointed to hear a particular case from the people. These judges are appointed directly by the Duke, and must always be directly promoted from a position of Town Judge to Judge of Maginsula. They must always have a minimum of at least two years of experience before being eligible for this promotion. Also, as a rule, the given five judges must all be promoted from different towns.
The current five Judges of Maginsula include:
1) the Honorable James von Brandt of Isle von Brandt, grandson of Count Joash von Brandt (89 years old, has served 48 years)
2) the Honorable Vanford Klein of Kleinston, uncle of Countess Rochelle Klein (60 years old, has served 23 years)
3) the Honorable Emilia Sudworth of Sudwortham, daughter of Dominus Sudworth (35 years old, has served 6 years)
4) the Honorable Ernest Eadwig from Ban Eadwig, the nephew of Countess Audhilda Eadwig (23 years old, has served 1 year)
5) the Honorable Trevor Weller of Wellerton, second son of Nerida Weller (24 years old, has served 1 year). 
Upon the simultaneous retirement of two judges the previous year, Duke Linnington called for a meeting with every current town judge; upon meeting each one, he felt most impressed with Ernest Eadwig and Trevor Weller, so he decided to promote them, much to the pleasure of their families who appreciated the prestige that it drew.
Of course, each family would hope that any cases would be decided in their favor if their own child is judging, but any cases pertaining to a specific family are intentionally assigned to a judge NOT from the same family, in hopes that their decision may be less biased. Also, it is very much illegal if any judge is caught taking bribes in order to decide a case. Instead, they must listen to both parties state their cases, and decide fairly, without accepting any gifts or any such thing from the parties. In compensation, judges are well paid via taxes. Also, individuals coming to court must express their cases themselves, as best as they can, though they can also bring forth witnesses or even friends to help them state their cases more eloquently - but these friends must NOT be accepting any "bribes" for helping state these cases (no lawyers are legally paid).