In United States appellate procedure, an appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law.

The right to file an appeal can also vary from state to state ; for example, the New Jersey Constitution vests judicial power in a Supreme Court, a Superior Court, and other courts of limited jurisdiction, with an appellate court being part of the Superior Court.

An appellate court is a court that hears cases on appeal from another court.

Depending on the particular legal rules that apply to each circumstance, a party to a court case who is unhappy with the result might be able to challenge that result in an appellate court on specific grounds.

The appellate court cannot refuse to listen to the appeal.

An appeal " by leave " or " permission " requires the appellant to obtain leave to appeal ; in such a situation either or both of the lower court and the appellate court may have the discretion to grant or refuse the appellant's demand to appeal the lower court's decision.

Likewise, in some jurisdictions, the state or prosecution may appeal an issue of law " by leave " from the trial court and / or the appellate court.

For example, a criminal defendant may be convicted in state court, and lose on " direct appeal " to higher state appellate courts, and if unsuccessful, mount a " collateral " action such as filing for a writ of habeas corpus in the federal courts.

In Anglo-American common law courts, appellate review of lower court decisions may also be obtained by filing a petition for review by prerogative writ in certain cases.

That is, it goes to the intermediate appellate court, followed by the highest court.

For example, the appellant might have to file the notice of appeal with the appellate court, or with the court from which the appeal is taken, or both.

Generally speaking the appellate court examines the record of evidence presented in the trial court and the law that the lower court applied and decides whether that decision was legally sound or not.

The appellate court will typically be deferential to the lower court's findings of fact ( such as whether a defendant committed a particular act ), unless clearly erroneous, and so will focus on the court's application of the law to those facts ( such as whether the act found by the court to have occurred fits a legal definition at issue ).

If the appellate court finds no defect, it " affirms " the judgment.

If the appellate court does find a legal defect in the decision " below " ( i. e., in the lower court ), it may " modify " the ruling to correct the defect, or it may nullify (" reverse " or " vacate ") the whole decision or any part of it.

In the Roman Catholic Church, a tribunal usually refers to literally one of three instances of ecclesiastical courts: ( 1 ) a diocesan tribunal ( 2 ) a provincial tribunal, that is, of more than one diocese and commonly referred to as an appellate court ( 3 ) the Sacra Rota Romana, or Sacred Roman Rota, the highest court of appeals.

The Court consisted of a first-level trial court, known as the Federal Court of Canada – Trial Division, and an appellate Court, known as the Federal Court of Canada – Appeal Division ( more commonly referred to as the Federal Court of Appeal ).

In different jurisdictions, appellate courts are also called appeals courts, courts of appeals, superior courts, or supreme courts.

All appellate courts fall under a highest court ( sometimes but not always called a " supreme court ").

In New York, the " Supreme Court " is the trial court of general unlimited jurisdiction and the intermediate appellate court is called the " Supreme Court — Appellate Division ".

Maryland's jury trial courts are called " Circuit Courts " ( non-jury trials are usually conducted by the " District Courts ," whose decisions may be appealed to the Circuit Courts ), and the intermediate appellate court is called the " Court of Special Appeals ".

Usually, an intermediate appellate court, if there is one in that state, often called the state court of appeals, will review the decision of the trial court.

If still unsatisfied, the litigant can appeal to the highest appellate court in the state, which is usually called the state supreme court and is usually located in or near the state capital.

State courts, which try 98 % of litigation, may have different names and organization ; trial courts may be called " courts of common plea ", appellate courts " superior courts " or " commonwealth courts ".

The Court has inherent appellate jurisdiction for appeals ( called pourvois en cassation ) from a lower court ( courts of appeal or, for certain types of small claims cases which are not appealable to courts of appeal, from a court of first instance ).

The New York Supreme Court has a trial unit, which is not formally called the “ Trial Division .” Also, the New York Supreme Court has an appellate unit, which is formally called the “ Appellate Division .”

In some states, the latter type of trial courts often also have appellate jurisdiction from the more specialized courts, and are therefore called superior courts to distinguish them from inferior courts.

The party filing the appeal — called the petitioner or appellant, who is attempting to convince the appellate court to overturn the lower court decision — is responsible for submitting his brief first.

In the case In re: Parson, the United States Supreme Court wrote: " If the orders be regarded merely as directions in the administration of judicial affairs in respect of the immediate possession of property or custody of prisoners, we cannot be properly called to, by reason of anything appearing on these records, in the exercise of appellate jurisdiction in this manner, to direct them to be set aside.

In Louisiana, the intermediate appellate courts are called the Louisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Depending on state law, appeals are moved to appellate courts ( also called appeals courts, courts of appeals, superior courts, or supreme courts in some states ).

In addition to the Supreme Court of the United States, whose existence and some aspects of whose jurisdiction are beyond the constitutional power of Congress to alter, acts of Congress have established 13 courts of appeals ( also called " circuit courts ") with appellate jurisdiction over different regions of the United States, and 94 United States district courts.

The first North Carolina appellate court, created in 1799, was called the Court of Conference and consisted of several Superior Court ( trial ) judges sitting en banc twice each year to review appeals from their own courts.

In the case of an appellate or a cassation court, the parquet is called parquet général.

The Court of Assize (, also called a Court of Sessions ) sits in each of the departments of France with original and appellate jurisdiction over, or serious felonies.

In February, the foreign affairs minister of Jamaica has also called on Trinidad & Tobago to sign on to the court's appellate jurisdiction to mark that country's 50th anniversary of independence.

The Tribunal Apostolicum Rotae Romanae ( Latin, " Apostolic Tribunal of the Sacred Roman Rota ") — also called the Sacred Roman Rota, and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience — is the highest appellate tribunal of the Roman Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin-rite members and the eastern-rite members and is, with respect to judicial trials conducted in the Catholic Church, the highest ecclesiastical court constituted by the Holy See.

In a letter to the editor of The New York Times following Judge Friendly's obituary, Judge Jon O. Newman called Judge Friendly " quite simply the pre-eminent appellate judge of his era " who " authored the definitive opinions for the nation in each area of the law that he had occasion to consider.

Certain jurisdictions permit certain appeals to cause the trial to be heard afresh in the appellate court.

In an adversarial system, appellate courts do not have the power to review lower court decisions unless a party appeals it.

" 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 '".

Many U. S. jurisdictions title their appellate court a court of appeal or court of appeals.

Historically, others have titled their appellate court a court of errors ( or court of errors and appeals ), on the premise that it was intended to correct errors made by lower courts.

In some jurisdictions, courts able to hear appeals are known as an appellate division.

Depending on the system, certain courts may serve as both trial courts and appellate courts, hearing appeals of decisions made by courts with more limited jurisdiction.

Some jurisdictions have specialized appellate courts, such as the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which only hears appeals raised in criminal cases, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which has general jurisdiction but derives most of its caseload from patent cases, on the other hand, and appeals from the Court of Federal Claims on the other.

Furthermore, U. S. appellate courts are usually restricted to hearing appeals based on matters that were originally brought up before the trial court.

However, appeals may be costly, and the appellate court must find an error on the part of the court below that justifies upsetting the verdict.

A court of appeals is an appellate court generally.

For example, in United States federal courts, the United States district courts have original jurisdiction over a number of different matters ( as mentioned above ), and the United States court of appeals have appellate jurisdiction over matters appealed from the district courts.

Each panel of judges on the court of appeals for a circuit is bound to obey the prior appellate decisions of the same circuit.

Precedent of a United States court of appeals may be overruled only by the court en banc, that is, a session of all the active appellate judges of the circuit, or by the United States Supreme Court.

For example, an appellate court for one district could consider a ruling issued by an appeals court in another district.

These rules govern how an appeal may be commenced, what kind of notice ( if any ) is required, the types of briefs, pleadings or statements of case, motions, and orders allowed in appeals, the timing and manner of the appeal, the conduct of appellate hearings, the process for decisions, various available remedies, and how the courts and clerks must function.

Generally, the state supreme court, like most appellate tribunals, is exclusively for hearing appeals of legal issues.

Since a few states lack intermediate appellate courts, the state supreme court may operate under " mandatory review ", in which it must hear all appeals from the trial courts.

Under such a system, intermediate appellate courts are entrusted with deciding the vast majority of appeals.

The highest courts of New Hampshire and West Virginia simply do not have an intermediate appellate court between themselves and the trial court of general jurisdiction, while the intermediate Court of Appeals of Virginia hears appeals as a matter of right only in family and administrative cases.