Online English Test

The United States court system, as part of the federal system of government, is characterized by dual hierarchies : there are both state and federal court. Each state has its own system of courts, sometimes intermediate courts of appeal, and a state supreme court. The federal court system 5 consists of a series of trial courts (called district courts) serving relatively small geographic regions (there is at least one for every state) a tier of circuit court of appeal that hear appeals form many district courts in a particular geographic region, and the Supreme court of the United states. The two court systems are to some extent 10 overlapping, in that certain kinds of disputes (such as a claim that a state law is in violation of the Constitution may be initiated in either system. They are also to some extent hierarchical, for the federal system stands above the state system in that litigants (persons engaged in lawsuits) who lose their cases in the state supreme 15 court may appeal their cases to the Supreme Court of the United States.

Thus, the typical court case begins in a trial court - a court of general jurisdiction- in the or federal system. Most cases go no further than the trial court : for example, the criminal defendant is convicted (by a trial or a guilty plea) and sentenced by the court 21 and the case ends; the personal injury suit results in a judgment by a trial court (or an out-of- court settlement by the parties while the court suit is pending) and the parties leave the court system. But sometimes the losing party at the trial court cares enough about the cause that the matter does not end there. In these cases, the 26 "loser" at the trial court may appeal to the next higher court.