Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Court of Appeal

An intermediate federal judicial tribunal of review that is found in thirteen judicial districts, called circuits, in the United States.

A state judicial tribunal that reviews a decision rendered by an inferior tribunal to determine whether it made errors that warrant the reversal of its judgment.

U.S. COURTS OF APPEALS were created by Congress in 1891 and were known until 1948 as U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals. Such courts have appellate jurisdiction over the majority of cases decided by U.S. District Courts except those cases in which the court has made an INTERLOCUTORY order regarding an INJUNCTION; such cases are directly reviewable by the