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A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). Most appellate courts do not have the authority to hear testimony or take evidence, but instead rule solely on matters of law.[1]
In the trial court, evidence and testimony are admitted under the rules of evidence established by applicable procedural law and determinations called findings of fact are made based on the evidence. The court, presided over by one or more judges, makes findings of law based upon the applicable law. In most common law jurisdictions, the trial court often sits with a jury and one judge; in such jury trials, the jury acting as trier of fact. In some cases, the judge or judges act as triers of both fact and law, by either statute, custom, or agreement of the parties; this is referred to as a bench trial. In the case of most judges hearing cases through the bench trial process, they would prefer that all parties are given an opportunity to offer a vigorous and robust case presentation, such that errors in testimony, procedures, statutes, etc., do not grow "crab legs" (compounded errors) and are remanded or returned to their court on appeal.
In the United Statesedit
In the United States, a trial court of general jurisdiction is authorized to hear some type of civil or criminal case that is not committed exclusively to another court. The United States district courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction of the federal judiciary; each state has a system establishing trial courts of general jurisdiction, such as the circuit courts in Florida, the superior courts in California, and the New York Supreme Court in New York state. Most trial courts are courts of record, where the record of the presentation of evidence is created and must be maintained or transmitted to the appellate court. The record of the trial court is certified by the clerk of the trial court and transmitted to the appellate body.
Because different U.S. states apply different names to their courts, it is often not evident whether a court has general or limited jurisdiction. For instance, the Maine District Court is a court of limited jurisdiction, but the Nevada District Courts are courts of general jurisdiction.
^"Steinman, Joan. "Appellate Courts as First Responders: The Constitutionality and Propriety of Appellate Courts' Resolving Issues in the First Instance." Notre Dame Law Review, vol. 87, no. 4, April 2012, pp. 1522-1523". Retrieved 2022-06-05.
February 15, 2024
trial, court, court, first, instance, redirects, here, other, uses, court, first, instance, disambiguation, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, examples, pe. Court of first instance redirects here For other uses see Court of first instance disambiguation This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate February 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article relies largely or entirely on a single source Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources Find sources Trial court news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction in which trials take place Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually made by higher courts with the power of appellate review appellate courts Most appellate courts do not have the authority to hear testimony or take evidence but instead rule solely on matters of law 1 The Supreme Court of Victoria Australia an example of a trial courtIn the trial court evidence and testimony are admitted under the rules of evidence established by applicable procedural law and determinations called findings of fact are made based on the evidence The court presided over by one or more judges makes findings of law based upon the applicable law In most common law jurisdictions the trial court often sits with a jury and one judge in such jury trials the jury acting as trier of fact In some cases the judge or judges act as triers of both fact and law by either statute custom or agreement of the parties this is referred to as a bench trial In the case of most judges hearing cases through the bench trial process they would prefer that all parties are given an opportunity to offer a vigorous and robust case presentation such that errors in testimony procedures statutes etc do not grow crab legs compounded errors and are remanded or returned to their court on appeal In the United States editIn the United States a trial court of general jurisdiction is authorized to hear some type of civil or criminal case that is not committed exclusively to another court The United States district courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction of the federal judiciary each state has a system establishing trial courts of general jurisdiction such as the circuit courts in Florida the superior courts in California and the New York Supreme Court in New York state Most trial courts are courts of record where the record of the presentation of evidence is created and must be maintained or transmitted to the appellate court The record of the trial court is certified by the clerk of the trial court and transmitted to the appellate body Not all cases are heard in trial courts of general jurisdiction A trial court of limited jurisdiction is authorized to hear only specified types of cases Trial courts of limited jurisdiction may be limited in subject matter jurisdiction such as juvenile probate and family courts in many U S states or the United States Tax Court in the federal judiciary or by other means such as small claims courts in many states for civil cases with a low amount in controversy Other trials do not take place in courts at all but in quasi judicial bodies or in administrative agencies with adjudicatory power created by statute to make binding determinations with simplified procedural practices such as arbitration The United States Supreme Court is primarily an appellate court but has original jurisdiction in cases involving a diplomatic official or a state Because different U S states apply different names to their courts it is often not evident whether a court has general or limited jurisdiction For instance the Maine District Court is a court of limited jurisdiction but the Nevada District Courts are courts of general jurisdiction See also editLower court Appellate court Supreme courtReferences edit Steinman Joan Appellate Courts as First Responders The Constitutionality and Propriety of Appellate Courts Resolving Issues in the First Instance Notre Dame Law Review vol 87 no 4 April 2012 pp 1522 1523 Retrieved 2022 06 05 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Trial court amp oldid 1188233219, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
