appellate
relating to legal appeals
Describes things that are part of a higher court’s work in checking and changing decisions made by lower courts.
appellate [noun]
- The case is now before the state appellate court.
- She has spent most of her career handling complex appellate litigation.
- The appellate judge questioned whether the defendant received a fair trial.
- They plan to challenge the ruling through the federal appellate system.
- Appellate review is limited to issues that were raised in the lower court.
- He works as a lawyer in an appellate court.
- The company lost the trial but won in the appellate court.
- An appellate judge looks at what the first court did.
- Appellate review does not include a new trial.
- They asked for an appellate decision on the case.
- Base: appellate
appellate court
1a court that hears appeals
A court that looks at decisions made by lower courts and can change them.
- The appellate court overturned the lower court’s decision.
- Her case is now on appeal before the state appellate court.
- Most constitutional challenges are decided at the appellate court level.
appellate jurisdiction
1power to hear appeals
The legal power a court has to hear cases that come from lower courts and to change their decisions.
- The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction over decisions of the lower federal courts.
- This tribunal lacks appellate jurisdiction in criminal matters.
appellate procedure
1rules for handling appeals
The set of rules that say how a case must be taken to a higher court and how that court will handle the appeal.
- Students in the course studied federal appellate procedure.
- Appellate procedure requires parties to file briefs within strict deadlines.
appellate review
1higher court review of decisions
The careful check that a higher court makes of a lower court’s decision to see if there were legal errors.
- The statute limits appellate review to questions of law.
- Appellate review in this area is usually very deferential.
intermediate appellate court
1middle level appeals court
A court between the trial courts and the highest court that first hears appeals from the trial courts.
- Most appeals are resolved in the intermediate appellate court and never reach the supreme court.
- The state created a new intermediate appellate court to reduce the backlog of cases.