 | | | |
Learn more about "Court"
|
|
|
Court
A '''court''' is a forum used by a power base to adjudication|adjudicate disputes and dispense private law|civil, labour, administrative and criminal justice|criminal justice under its laws. In common law and civil law (legal system)|civil law state (law)|states, courts are the central means for dispute resolution, and it is generally understood that all persons have an ability to bring their claims before a court. Similarly, those accused of a crime have the right to present their defense before a court.
Court facilities range from a simple farmhouse for a village court in a rural community to huge buildings housing dozens of courtrooms in large cities.
A ''court'' is a kind of deliberative assembly with special powers, called its jurisdiction, to decide certain kinds of judicial questions or petitions put to it. It will typically consist of one or more presiding officers, parties and their attorneys, bailiffs, reporters, and perhaps a jury.
The term "court" is often used to refer to the ''president of the court'', also known as the "judge" or the "bench", or the panel of such officials. For example, in the United States, and other common law jurisdictions, the term "court" (in the case of U.S. federal courts) by law is used to describe the judge himself or herself.[See generally : "The Supreme Court of the United States ''shall consist'' of a ''Chief Justice'' of the United States and ''eight associate justices'' . ." (italics added); : "Each court of appeals ''shall consist'' of the ''circuit judges'' of the circuit in regular active service." (italics added); (in part): "Each district court ''shall consist'' of the ''district judge or judges'' for the district in regular active service." (italics added); (in part): "In each judicial district, the ''bankruptcy judges'' in regular active service ''shall constitute a unit of the district court'' to be known as the bankruptcy court for that district . ." (italics added).]
In the United States, the legal authority of a court to take action is based on three pillars of power over the parties to the litigation: (1) Personal jurisdiction; (2) Subject matter jurisdiction; and (3) Venue.
Jurisdiction
Jurisdiction, meaning "to speak the law" is the power of a court over a person or claim. In the United States, a court must have both personal jurisdiction and subject matter jurisdiction. Each state establishes a court system for the territory under its control. This system allocates work to courts or authorized individuals by granting both jurisdiction|civil and criminal jurisdiction (in the United States, this is termed subject-matter jurisdiction). The grant of power to each category of court or individual may stem from a provision of a written constitution or from an enabling statute. In English law, jurisdiction may be ''Inherent jurisdiction|inherent'', deriving from the common law origin of the particular court.
Trial and appellate courts
Courts may be classified as trial (law)|trial courts (sometimes termed "courts of first instance") and appeal|appellate courts. Some trial courts may function with a judge and a jury: juries make findings of fact under the direction of the judge who reaches conclusions of law and, in combination, this represents the judgment of the court. In other trial courts, decisions of both fact and law are made by the judge or judges. Juries are less common in court systems outside the Anglo-American common law tradition.
Civil law courts and common law courts
The two major models for courts are the civil law courts and the common law courts. Civil law courts are based upon the judicial system in France, while the common law courts are based on the judicial system in Britain. In most Civil law (legal system)|civil law jurisdictions, courts function under an inquisitorial system. In the common law system, most courts follow the adversarial system. Procedural law governs the rules by which
courts operate: civil procedure for private disputes (for example); and criminal procedure for violation of the criminal law.
Tribunal
.
Notes
See also
General
- Sanctions (law)
- International judicial institution
- International Criminal Court
- List of people who have acted as their own attorney
Types and organization of courts
- Appellate court
- Constitutional Court
- Court of Faculties
- Court-martial
- Courts of England and Wales
- Ecclesiastical court
- Equity court
- Family court
- High Court of Justiciary
- Revolutionary Tribunal (French Revolution)
- Scots law|Scots Law
- Scottish Court Service
- Supreme court
- Trial court
External links
- US federal courts
- Courtprep, Information about the Canadian justice process, features an interactive courtroom and witness tips.
Category:Courts
simple:Court
Related Images
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
 |
Welcome to Start Learning Now.
Explore to your heart's content, and we hope you enjoy reading the material we
have assembled for you here! |
 |
| | | | |
Related News
|
|
Further Resources
|
|
Related Resources
search
|
|
