Appellate court

An appellate court, commonly called an appeals court, court of appeals (American English),appeal court (British English), court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In most jurisdictions, the court system is divided into at least three levels: the trial court, which initially hears cases and reviews evidence and testimony to determine the facts of the case; at least one intermediate appellate court; and a supreme court (or court of last resort) which primarily reviews the decisions of the intermediate courts. A jurisdiction's supreme court is that jurisdiction's highest appellate court. Appellate courts nationwide can operate by varying rules.

The authority of appellate courts to review decisions of lower courts varies widely from one jurisdiction to another. In some places, the appellate court has limited powers of review. "Generally speaking, an appellate court's judgment provides 'the final directive of the appeals courts as to the matter appealed, setting out with specificity the court's determination that the action appealed from should be affirmed, reversed, remanded or modified'".

Court of appeal (disambiguation)

A court of appeal is an appellate court.

Court of Appeal may refer to:

In Australia:

In Belgium:

In Canada:

In Cameroon:

In Fiji:

In France:

Court of appeal (Norway)

The court of appeal (Norwegian: lagmannsrett, lit. ‘lawman's court’) is the second level of courts of justice in Norway, reviewing criminal and civil cases appealed from the district courts. There are six courts of appeal, each covering a jurisdiction and based in a city. Each court is led by a senior judge president (lagman) and several appellate judges (lagdommer). The courts are administrated by the Norwegian National Courts Administration. Decisions from civil and criminal matters, except the question of guilt, can be appealed from the courts of appeal to the Supreme Court.

Criminal cases

In criminal cases where the crime is punishable by no more than six years in prison, the court consists of three professional judges and four lay judges; all seven have equal votes in the decisions. In order to convict, five of the seven judges must vote for conviction. Even if the bench is reduced because of a recusal, the requirement for five guilty votes remains, as was the case in the trial of Atle Torbjørn Karlsvik, who was acquitted after four judges voted to convict, while two voted to acquit.