# Trial court > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Trial_court > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Trial_court.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_court > Source revision: 1270684722 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Type of court where trials take place "Court of first instance" redirects here. For other uses, see [Court of first instance (disambiguation)](/source/Court_of_first_instance_(disambiguation)). This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Please help improve this article by citing more sources. Find sources: "Trial court" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) The [Supreme Court of Victoria](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Victoria), Australia, an example of a trial court A **trial court** or **court of first instance** is a court having [original jurisdiction](/source/Original_jurisdiction), in which trials take place. [Appeals](/source/Appeals) from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review ([appellate courts](/source/Appellate_court)). Most appellate courts do not have the authority to hear testimony or take evidence, but instead rule solely on matters of law.[1] In the trial court, [evidence](/source/Evidence_(law)) and [testimony](/source/Testimony) are admitted under the [rules of evidence](/source/Rules_of_evidence) established by applicable [procedural law](/source/Procedural_law) and determinations called *findings of fact* are made based on the evidence. The court, presided over by one or more judges, makes *findings of law* based upon the applicable law. In most [common law](/source/Common_law) jurisdictions, the trial court often sits with a jury and one judge; in such [jury trials](/source/Jury_trial), the jury acts as [trier of fact](/source/Trier_of_fact). In some cases, the judge or judges act as triers of both fact and law, by either statute, custom, or agreement of the parties; this is referred to as a [bench trial](/source/Bench_trial). ## In the United States Main articles: [Federal judiciary of the United States](/source/Federal_judiciary_of_the_United_States) and [State court (United States)](/source/State_court_(United_States)) This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) In the United States, a trial court of [general jurisdiction](/source/General_jurisdiction) is authorized to hear some type of [civil](/source/Civil_law_(common_law)) or [criminal](/source/Criminal_law) case that is not committed exclusively to another court. The [United States district courts](/source/United_States_district_court) are the trial courts of general jurisdiction of the [federal judiciary](/source/United_States_federal_courts); each state has a system establishing trial courts of general jurisdiction, such as the [circuit courts](/source/Florida_Circuit_Courts) in Florida, the [superior courts](/source/Superior_Courts_of_California) in California, and the [New York Supreme Court](/source/New_York_Supreme_Court) in New York state. Most trial courts are [courts of record](/source/Courts_of_record), where the record of the presentation of evidence is created and must be maintained or transmitted to the appellate court. The record of the trial court is certified by the [clerk of the trial court](/source/Court_clerk) and transmitted to the appellate body. Not all cases are heard in trial courts of general jurisdiction. A trial court of [limited jurisdiction](/source/Limited_jurisdiction) is authorized to hear only specified types of cases. Trial courts of limited jurisdiction may be limited in [subject-matter jurisdiction](/source/Subject-matter_jurisdiction) (such as [juvenile](/source/Juvenile_court), [probate](/source/Probate), and [family courts](/source/Family_court) in many U.S. states, or the [United States Tax Court](/source/United_States_Tax_Court) in the federal judiciary) or by other means, such as [small claims courts](/source/Small_claims_court) in many states for civil cases with a low [amount in controversy](/source/Amount_in_controversy). Other trials do not take place in courts at all, but in [quasi-judicial bodies](/source/Quasi-judicial_bodies) or in [administrative agencies](/source/Administrative_agencies) with [adjudicatory](/source/Adjudication) power created by statute to make binding determinations with simplified procedural practices, such as [arbitration](/source/Arbitration). The United States Supreme Court is primarily an appellate court, [but has original jurisdiction](/source/Original_jurisdiction_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States) in cases involving a diplomatic official or a state. Because different U.S. states apply different names to their courts, it is often not evident whether a court has general or limited [jurisdiction](/source/Jurisdiction) or indeed is a trial court at all. For instance, the Maine District Court is a court of limited jurisdiction, but the [Nevada District Courts](/source/Nevada_District_Courts) are courts of general jurisdiction. Likewise, the [Delaware Court of Common Pleas](/source/Delaware_Court_of_Common_Pleas) is a court of limited jurisdiction, but the [Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas](/source/Pennsylvania_Courts_of_Common_Pleas) are courts of general jurisdiction. Similarly, the [California Superior Courts](/source/California_Superior_Courts) are trial courts of general jurisdiction, but the [Superior Court of Pennsylvania](/source/Superior_Court_of_Pennsylvania) is an appellate court, and the [New Jersey Superior Court](/source/New_Jersey_Superior_Court) is both. ## See also - [Lower court](/source/Lower_court) - [Appellate court](/source/Appellate_court) - [Supreme court](/source/Supreme_court) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Steinman, Joan. "Appellate Courts as First Responders: The Constitutionality and Propriety of Appellate Courts' Resolving Issues in the First Instance." Notre Dame Law Review, vol. 87, no. 4, April 2012, pp. 1522–1523"](https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/tndl87&i=1530). Retrieved June 5, 2022. Authority control databases International GND National United States France BnF data Korea Israel Other Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Trial court](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_court) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_court?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.