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The thirteen United States Courts of Appeals stand between the United States District Courts (or other comparable federal courts, such as the Court of International Trade) and the United States Supreme Court.
Each state has decided upon its own particular appellate structure.
In the State of New York, for instance, the Court of Appeals is the highest court in the state and the court of last resort within the State. Only cases raising questions of federal law can be appealed from there to the United States Supreme Court.
In New Mexico, the Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court between county jurisdictions and the state's Supreme Court. Most states that have a Court of Appeals (or multiple Courts) give them a similar intermediate role.
The general rule in the American justice system is that the loser deserves one appeal. Therefore, such intermediate courts usually have mandatory jurisdiction and must hear an appeal, while the state supreme court (or the U.S. Supreme Court in the federal system) has discretionary jurisdiction and hears an appeal only if it wants to.
In Nevada (and a few other states), there is no Court of Appeals. Cases are appealed directly from District (county) Courts to the state's Supreme Court. The state Supreme Court in that case must hear all appeals.
Some countries within the Commonwealth of Nations have courts by the name of the Court of Appeal above the High Court and below the court of last resort (which may be the House of Lords, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, etc.). For a fuller treatment, see Courts of England and Wales.
In France the Courts of Appeals are one level under the Cour de cassation, which is the court of last resort. There exist administrative Courts of Appeal, under the Conseil d'ÉtatIn France, the Conseil d'Etat ( English: Council of State is an organ of the French national government. Its functions include assisting the executive with legal advice and being the supreme court for administrative justice. Organisation The Conseil d'Eta, for cases belonging to the administrative order.
In GermanyThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east, with civil and criminal cases, the highest court in a hierarchy of appellate courts is the BundesgerichtshofThe Bundesgerichtshof or BGH (German for federal court is the highest appeals court in Germany for civil and criminal lawsuits. It was established in 1950 and is situated in Karlsruhe. External link Germany.. The other branches of the German judicial branch for social, labor, and administrative cases each have their own appellate systems. The Bundesgerichtshof is distinct from the Federal Constitutional Court of GermanyThe Federal Constitutional Court (in German: Bundesverfassungsgericht is a special court established by the German constitution, the Grundgesetz (Basic Law). From its inception, the Court has been located in the city of Karlsruhe, intentionally dislocated, which only performs judicial reviewJudicial review is the power of a court to review a law or an official act of a government employee or agent; for example, although the basis is different in different countries, as unconstitutional or violating of basic principles of justice. In many jur, although both courts are located in KarlsruheKarlsruhe (population 282,595 in December 2003) is a city of Germany, in the Baden-Wurttemberg Bundesland, located near the French-German border. Geography The altitude above sea level of the city's area is between 100 m (on the westerly edge, toward the.
See also: Appeals court, List of legal topics
Court systems