An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are 600 extant species of oaks; the common name "oak" appears in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus, as well as in those of unrelated species such as Grevillea robusta and the Casuarinaceae. The genus Quercus is native to the Northern Hemisphere, includes deciduous and evergreen species extending from cool temperate to tropical latitudes in the Americas, Asia and North Africa. North America contains the largest number of oak species, with 90 occurring in the United States, while Mexico has 160 species of which 109 are endemic; the second greatest center of oak diversity is China, which contains 100 species. Oaks have spirally arranged leaves, with lobate margins in many species. Many deciduous species are marcescent. In spring, a single oak tree produces small female flowers; the fruit is a nut called an oak nut borne in a cup-like structure known as a cupule. The acorns and leaves contain tannic acid, which helps to guard from insects.

The live oaks are distinguished for being evergreen, but are not a distinct group and instead are dispersed across the genus. The most recent classification of Quercus divides the genus into eight sections; these divisions support the evolutionary diversification of oaks among two distinct clades: the "Old World" clade, including oaks that diversified in Eurasia. Sect. Quercus, the white oaks of Europe and North America. Styles are short; the leaves lack a bristle on their lobe tips, which are rounded. The type species is Quercus robur. Sect. Protobalanus, the canyon live oak and its relatives, in the southwestern United States and northwest Mexico. Styles short, acorns mature in 18 months and taste bitter; the inside of the acorn shell appears woolly. Leaves have sharp lobe tips, with bristles at the lobe tip. Sect. Ponticae, a disjunct including just two species. Styles short, acorns maturing in 12 months. Leaves with large stipules, high secondary venation toothrd. Sect. Virentes, the southern live oaks of the Americas.

Styles short, acorns maturing in 12 months. Leaves evergreen or subevergreen. Sect. Lobatae, the red oaks of North America, Central America and northern South America. Styles long; the inside of the acorn shell appears woolly. The actual nut is encased in a thin, papery skin. Leaves have sharp lobe tips, with spiny bristles at the lobe. Sect. Cyclobalanopsis, the ring-cupped oaks of eastern and southeastern Asia. Evergreen trees growing 10–40 m tall, they are distinct from subgenus Quercus in that they have acorns with distinctive cups bearing concrescent rings of scales. Species of Cyclobalanopsis are common in the evergreen subtropical laurel forests which extend from southern Japan, southern Korea, Taiwan across southern China and northern Indochina to the eastern Himalayas, in association with trees of genus Castanopsis and the laurel family. Sect. Cerris, the Turkey oak and its relatives of Europe and Asia. Styles long; the inside of the acorn's shell is hairless. Its leaves have sharp lobe tips, with bristles at the lobe tip.

Sect. Ilex, the Ilex oak and its relatives of Eurasia and northern Africa. Styles medium-long. Leaves evergreen, with bristle-like extensions on the teeth. Interspecific hybridization is quite common among oaks, but between species within the same section only, most common in the white oak group. White oaks are unable to discriminate against pollination by other species in the same section; because they are wind pollinated and they have weak internal barriers to hybridization, hybridization produces functional seeds and fertile hybrid offspring. Ecological stresses near habitat margins, can cause a breakdown of mate recognition as well as a reduction of male function in one parent species. Frequent hybridization among oaks has consequences for oak populations around the world. Frequent hybridization and high levels of introgression have caused different species in the same populations to share up to 50% of their genetic information. Having high rates of hybridization and introgression produces genetic data that does not differentiate between two morphologically distinct species, but instead differentiates populations.

Research suggests that the maintenance of particular loci for adaptation to ecological niches might explain the retention of species identity despite significant gene flow. The Fagaceae, or beech family, to which the oaks belong, is a slow evolving clade compared to other angiosperms, the patterns of hybridization and introgression in Quercus pose a great challenge to the concept of a species since a species is defined as a group of "a

The Supreme Judicial Court of Libya is the legal body in Libya responsible for organising the legal system of Libya, in existence since the 2011 Libyan Civil War. The SJC retained its structure as a single national body throughout the conflict despite the political split and in 2019 went through Libya-wide "transparent elections" and a "peaceful transfer of power", according to the United Nations Support Mission in Libya; the Supreme Judicial Council was defined in Law No. 4 of 2011 following the 2011 Libyan Civil War as a replacement for the Muammar Gaddafi-era High Council of Judicial Bodies, created in 2006, with the aim of having more independence from other components of the governmental system. In contrast to the High Council of Judicial Bodies, the Minister of Justice was excluded from being either the president or an ordinary member of the Supreme Judicial Council; the International Commission of Jurists judged this change to "significantly " the independence of the judiciary. Law No. 4 of 2011 makes an amendment to Law No. 6 of 2006.

The SCJ's role under Law No. 6 of 2006, as amended by Law No. 4 of 2011, covers the organisation of "judicial affairs" and responsibilities in relation to members of judicial bodies. Law No. 14 of 2013 gives the SJC a budget separate from the state budget. The SJC elects its vice-president from among its members. In 2016, the ICJ made detailed recommendations for strengthening the "" of the SJC from the executive branch of government. Law No. 6 of 2006 and Law No. 14 of 2013 together define the composition of the SJC to include the president of the Supreme Court, the Prosecutor General, presidents of seven courts of appeal, representatives of government departments including the Litigation Department, the Public Legal Defence Department, the Law Department, the Judicial Body Inspection Department. As of mid-2016, the SJC was a male-only body. A woman was elected as representative of the Benghazi Court of Appeal to the SJC in mid-2016. In 2016, the ICJ made detailed recommendations in recommending that the SJC become more "pluralistic and gender-representative, with a majority of judges elected by their peers."

The SJC aimed to retain its unity as a national body during the continuing political and military Libyan conflict that started in 2014. It met with the head of the Presidential Council and of the Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, in July 2016, as of mid 2017, held regular monthly meetings in Benghazi. In October 2019, the SJC met in Tripoli, it argued. United Nations Support Mission in Libya described the 2019 SJC elections as "an example of democracy and peaceful transfer of power in Libya... the independence and professionalism of the judiciary, a key institution enhancing the rule of law and human rights in Libya."

Princess Pauline Emma Auguste Hermine of Waldeck and Pyrmont was a member of the House of Waldeck and Pyrmont and a Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Through her marriage to Alexis, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt, Pauline was a member of the Princely House of Bentheim and Steinfurt and Princess consort of Bentheim and Steinfurt from 28 September 1890 to 21 January 1919. Pauline was born in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont on 19 October 1855 and was the second-eldest child and daughter of George Victor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont and his first wife Princess Helena of Nassau. Pauline was an elder sister of Marie, Crown Princess of Württemberg, Queen of the Netherlands, Duchess of Albany, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, Elisabeth, Princess of Erbach-Schönberg. Pauline married Alexis, Hereditary Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt, fourth child and eldest son of Ludwig Wilhelm, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt and his wife Landgravine Bertha of Hesse-Philippsthal-Barchfeld, on 7 May 1881 in Arolsen, Principality of Waldeck and Pyrmont.

Pauline and Alexis had eight children: Prince Eberwyn of Bentheim and Steinfurt ∞ 1906–1914 Pauline Langenfeld ∞ 1918–1919 Ellen Bischoff-Korthaus ∞ 1920 Anne-Louise Husser Viktor Adolf, Prince of Bentheim and Steinfurt ∞ 1920 Princess Stephanie of Schaumburg-Lippe ∞ 1931 Princess Rosa Helene of Solms-Hohensolms-Lich Prince Karl Georg of Bentheim and Steinfurt ∞ 1914 Princess Margarete of Schönaich-Carolath Princess Elisabeth of Bentheim and Steinfurt Princess Viktoria of Bentheim and Steinfurt Princess Emma of Bentheim and Steinfurt Prince Alexis Rainer of Bentheim and Steinfurt Prince Friedrich of Bentheim and Steinfurt ∞ 1934 Louise von Gülich 19 October 1855 – 7 May 1881: Her Serene Highness Princess Pauline of Waldeck and Pyrmont 7 May 1881 – 28 September 1890: Her Serene Highness The Hereditary Princess of Bentheim and Steinfurt, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont 28 September 1890 – 21 January 1919: Her Serene Highness The Princess of Bentheim and Steinfurt, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont 21 January 1919 – 3 July 1925: Her Serene Highness The Dowager Princess of Bentheim and Steinfurt, Princess of Waldeck and Pyrmont