What does the judicial branch do?
By EasySay. Published . Updated .
The judicial branch is the part of government made up of the courts.
Its judges explain laws, review them, settle disputes about them, and decide whether a law clashes with the Constitution. This is question 51 on the 2025 USCIS civics list and question 37 on the 2008 list. It is unofficial practice.
Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
Practice this question
Unofficial practice
Which answers are accepted?
2025 list, question 51
For an N-400 filed on or after 20 October 2025
Reviews laws
Explains laws
Resolves disputes (disagreements) about the law
Decides if a law goes against the (U.S.) Constitution
65/20 set: no
2008 list, question 37
For an N-400 filed before 20 October 2025
reviews laws
explains laws
resolves disputes (disagreements)
decides if a law goes against the Constitution
65/20 set: no
We matched the two lists ourselves: USCIS publishes no mapping between the 2008 and 2025 questions.
These are the answers USCIS prints. The 2025 list says there may be other correct answers, and encourages you to answer with the ones it prints.
What does the answer mean?
Courts are where disagreements about the law get settled. Two neighbors, a business and a customer, or a citizen and the government can each bring a dispute to a court.
A judge listens to both sides, looks at the law, and decides. In the federal system, the judicial branch is the group of federal courts, and the Supreme Court sits at the top.
The four accepted answers are four jobs of the courts: reviewing laws, explaining laws, resolving disputes, and deciding whether a law clashes with the Constitution. Learn the job you remember best, and you can answer in a short phrase.
Why does USCIS ask it?
The Constitution divides the federal government into three branches, and the courts are the third. USCIS asks what the judicial branch does so that you can tell the three apart. Nearby questions ask for one part of the judicial branch, and for facts about the Supreme Court.
Article III of the Constitution gives the judicial power of the United States to one Supreme Court. It also gives it to the lower courts that Congress chooses to set up.
How the officer asks it
Unlike many questions, this one asks for an action, not a name. The officer asks what the judicial branch does, and you answer with a short phrase such as explains laws. Four actions are listed: learn the one you can say most clearly, then say it out loud before you choose here.
What are the common wrong answers?
Each of these is the work of a different branch.
- Writes new laws. Congress does that. It is the legislative branch.
- Carries out the laws. The executive branch does that, and the President is in charge of it.
How can I remember it?
Judges judge, and judicial starts like judge. Reviews, explains, resolves, decides: four verbs for four jobs of one branch. If you learn only one, learn the one that comes most naturally.
Which questions are related?
- What is the supreme law of the land?The one document that outranks every federal, state and local law.
- What is the rule of law?The idea that laws bind leaders and the government as much as everyone else.
- What does the President’s Cabinet do?The Cabinet is the group of senior advisers to the President, mostly the leaders of the executive departments.
- Who signs bills to become laws?The President signs a bill that Congress has approved, which makes it a law, or refuses it with a veto.
Questions people ask
Is the judicial branch the same as the Supreme Court?
No. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the judicial branch. The branch also includes the lower federal courts that Congress sets up.
Which branch writes laws, and which carries them out?
Congress, the legislative branch, writes laws. The President leads the executive branch, which carries them out. The courts, the judicial branch, explain the laws and settle disputes about them.
Is this question on both the 2008 and 2025 lists?
Yes. It is question 51 on the 2025 list and question 37 on the 2008 list. Both lists give four answers about the same four jobs, with slightly different wording for two of them.
Sources and dates
- 128 Civics Questions and Answers (2025 version), form M-1778 (09/25), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), M-1778 (09/25); 128 questions; N-400 filed on or after 20 October 2025. Licence: public information (USCIS), may be distributed or copied. Checked . Passages checked: page 7. Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (uscis.gov).
- Civics Questions and Answers (2008 version), the 100 civics questions (rev. 08/21), U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), rev. 08/21; 100 questions; N-400 filed before 20 October 2025. Licence: public information (USCIS), may be distributed or copied. Checked . Passages checked: page 4. Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (uscis.gov).
- The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Page last reviewed September 8, 2026. Licence: public domain. Checked .
Cite this page
EasySay. "What does the judicial branch do?". https://easysay.org/us/citizenship-test/questions/judicial-branch. Last updated October 22, 2026. Unofficial practice.
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