Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In common law systems, a superior court is a court of general jurisdiction over civil and criminal legal cases.A superior court is "superior" in relation to a court with limited jurisdiction (see small claims court), which is restricted to civil cases involving monetary amounts with a specific limit, or criminal cases involving offenses of a less serious nature.
In the United States, a state court is a law court with jurisdiction over disputes with some connection to a U.S. state.State courts handle the vast majority of civil and criminal cases in the United States; the United States federal courts are far smaller in terms of both personnel and caseload, and handle different types of cases.
Superior Court (that is, the superior court is the respondent on appeal), and the real opponent is then listed below those names as the "real party in interest". This is why several U.S. Supreme Court decisions in cases that originated in California bear names like Asahi Metal Industry Co. v. Superior Court (1987) and Burnham v.
In California, the power of the intermediate courts of appeal over the superior courts is quite different from the power of the courts of appeals of the federal government over the federal district courts. The first Court of Appeal to rule on a new legal issue will bind all lower superior courts statewide. However, litigants in other appellate ...
U.S. states often provide their state trial courts with general jurisdiction. The Legal Information Institute notes that "often, states will vest their trial courts with general jurisdiction" [1] – with the ability to hear state and federal matters in law and in equity, although these courts may also organize themselves into divisions or departments to handle particular matters (eg., by ...
The superior courts also have appellate divisions (superior court judges sitting as appellate judges) which hear appeals from decisions of other superior court judges (or commissioners, or judges pro tem) in cases previously heard by inferior courts, such as infractions, misdemeanors, and "limited civil" actions (actions where the amount in ...
The courts of the United States are closely linked hierarchical systems of courts at the federal and state levels. The federal courts form the judicial branch of the U.S. government and operate under the authority of the United States Constitution and federal law.
Each state's court of last resort has the last word on issues of state law and can be overruled only on issues of federal law by the U.S. Supreme Court. The structure of courts and the methods of selecting judges is determined by each state's Constitution or legislature.