Georgia Court of Appeals

The Georgia Court of Appeals is the intermediate-level appellate court for the U.S. state of Georgia.

History

Founding of the court

The genesis of the Court of Appeals began with a report by the State Bar of Georgia in 1895, suggesting that the Georgia State Legislature create a new intermediate appellate court to relieve some the Georgia Supreme Court of its rapidly growing caseload. The Legislature declined to create a new appellate court, choosing instead to increase the size of the Supreme Court from three judges to five, then later to six. In 1902, Georgia Supreme Court justice Andrew J. Cobb gave a presentation to the State Bar addressing a number of proposals to alleviate the Supreme Court's workload, including the creation of an intermediate court of appeals.

Finally, in 1906, the Legislature approved an amendment to the Georgia state constitution to create a three judge court of appeals, to be placed on the ballot for approval by the citizens. The measure was approved by voters on October 3, 1906.

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 appeals (disambiguation)

A court of appeals is an appellate court generally.

Court of Appeals may refer to:

Court of Appeal of Fiji

The Court of Appeal of Fiji is one of three courts that were established by Chapter 9 of the 1997 Constitution, the others being the High Court and the Supreme Court. The Court of Appeal was a new institution established when the 1997 Constitution came into effect; the other two courts predated it. The Constitution authorizes the Court of Appeal "to hear and determine appeals" from all judgements of the High Court. From time to time, other powers may be assigned to this court by law.

The Court of Appeal is chaired by the President of the Court of Appeal. The Chief Justice is not permitted to hold this position; the Court of Appeal is the only court from which the Chief Justice is constitutionally barred from membership. This is to give the Court of Appeal a measure of independence from the other courts. Also members of the Court of Appeal are the puisne judges, at least ten in number (who also sit on the High Court), and persons specifically appointed as Justice of Appeal.