Circuit courts are court systems in severalcommon law jurisdictions.[1] It may refer to:
The term "circuit court" is derived from the English custom ofitinerant courts whose judges periodically travelled on pre-set paths – or circuits – to hear cases from different areas.
The first formal circuits were defined in 1293, when a statute was enacted which established fourassize circuits.[2]
It was long assumed that these circuits originated with theeyre incommon pleas during the reign ofHenry II, but during the late 1950s, legal historians such asRalph Pugh recognized that the eyre's "connection with later circuit justices is rather collateral than lineal",[3] and the eyre was merely one of a number of experiments in "systematized itinerant justice" undertaken by the English crown during the late 12th century and the 13th century.[3]
The development of the assize circuits was interrupted in 1305 by the appointment of justices oftrailbaston byKing Edward I.[4] UnderKing Edward III, two statutes were enacted in 1328 and 1330 which restored the assize circuits and reorganized thecounties of England into six circuits where assizes were supposed to be held thrice yearly (but were more often held twice each year).[5]
By 1337, the six assize circuits had stabilized:[5]
During the 1500s, two major changes occurred. Middlesex was removed from the Home Circuit and grouped with the adjacentCity of London (which was never part of the circuits), and Oxfordshire and Berkshire were transferred from the Western Circuit to the Oxford Circuit.[6] The Welsh county ofMonmouthshire was also transferred into the Oxford Circuit.[6]
After that, the circuits of England remained largely static for almost four centuries, until they were again reorganized during the 19th century.[6] Twice each year, judges "literally rode each circuit," meaning that a pair of common law judges assigned to a circuit rode on horseback through all thecounty towns and several other important towns in each circuit and heard cases.[6]
On theAmerican frontier, a judge often travelled on horseback along with a group of lawyers.Abraham Lincoln was one such attorney who regularlyrode the circuit in Illinois, along with Circuit JudgeDavid Davis.[7] In more settled areas, astagecoach would be used. Eventually, the legal caseload in a county would become great enough to warrant the establishment of a local judiciary.
Most of these local judicial circuits (that is, in terms of the actual routes travelled by judges) have been thus replaced by judges regularly stationed at local courthouses, but in many areas, the legacy term remains in use.[citation needed]
England and Wales is divided into six circuits for the purposes of the administration of justice:[8] the Midland Circuit, North Eastern Circuit,Northern Circuit, South Eastern Circuit, Western Circuit, and the Wales and Chester Circuit.
The system is overseen by theLord Chancellor. The membership consists of High Court Judges, Circuit Judges, District Judges, law practitioners and academic lawyers. The Circuits also form the basis for administration of the Bar in England and Wales except for Cheshire.
Until 2007 for court administration purposes it formed part of the Wales and Chester Circuit. When in 2007 it became part of the Northern Circuit for court administrative purposes post devolution, the "Wales and Chester Circuit" continued to be the Circuit Bar.
The Circuit Bars are represented on the Bar Council through the Circuit Leaders.[8]
InIreland the Circuit Court is part of theCourts of First Instance, senior to theDistrict Court but junior to theHigh Court (Ireland). It was first established as theCircuit Court of Justice under theCourts of Justice Act 1924 and replaced the County Court on the civil side, andquarter sessions and recorder's courts on the criminal side, as well as some of the jurisdiction of theassizes. These are heard by a judge sitting alone. It also has jurisdiction to hear appeals from the District Court. Appeals from the court lie to the High Court on the civil side and theCourt of Criminal Appeal on the criminal side.
The Circuit Court is so-called because of the circuits on which its judges travel, namely Dublin, Cork, Northern, Western, Eastern, South Western, South Eastern, and Midland, each of which are composed of a number of counties. The court consist of a President and thirty-seven judges. Although there is strictly speaking just one Circuit Court, a sitting of the Circuit Court in any particular location is referred to asname of town Circuit Court, e.g. Trim Circuit Court.
The High Court also sits "on circuit" twice yearly, though this is calledthe High Court on Circuit rather than a circuit court. In this case, "on circuit" means sitting in a location other thanDublin.
In the United States, circuit courts were first established in theThirteen British Colonies. In 1789, theUnited States circuit courts wereUnited States federal courts established in eachfederal judicial district. These circuit courts exercised bothoriginal (first instance) andappellate jurisdiction. They existed until 1912. The original jurisdiction formerly exercised by the United States circuit courts is now exercised by theUnited States district courts. Their appellate jurisdiction is now exercised by theUnited States courts of appeals, which were known as theUnited States circuit courts of appeals from their establishment in 1894 until 1947.
The federal courts of appeals sit permanently in 13 appellate circuits (11 regional circuits as well as aDC Circuit and theFederal Circuit). There are several other federal courts that bear the phrase "Court of Appeals" in their names, but they are not Article Three courts and are not considered to sit in appellate circuits.
The federal courts of appeals are intermediate courts, between the district courts (the federaltrial courts) and the Supreme Court. Smaller circuits, such as theSecond Circuit andThird Circuit, are based at a single federal courthouse, while others, such as the largeNinth Circuit, are spread across many courthouses. Since three-judge federal appellate panels are randomly selected from all sitting circuit judges, Ninth Circuit judges must often "ride the circuit," though this duty has become much easier to carry out since the development of modernair travel.
Under the originalJudiciary Act of 1789 and subsequent acts, thejustices of theSupreme Court of the United States inWashington, D.C. had theresponsibility of "riding circuit" and personally hearing both appeals and trials in the circuit courts, in addition to their caseload back in the capital. This duty was reasonable when the United States consisted of the originalThirteen Colonies along theEast Coast of the United States, but became increasingly onerous and impractical with the country'srapid westward expansion during the 19th century, and was repealed byCongress with the enacting of theJudiciary Act of 1891. The U.S. Supreme Court justices still retain vestiges of the days of riding circuit; each justice is designated to hear certaininterlocutory appeals from specific circuits and can unilaterally decide them or refer them to the entire court. The court's customary summer recess originated as the time during which the justices would leave Washington and ride circuit (since dirt roads were more passable in the summer).
ManyU.S. states havestate courts called "circuit courts." Most aretrial courts ofgeneral,original jurisdiction.
InLouisiana, the intermediateappellate courts are called theLouisiana Circuit Courts of Appeal. There are five separate judicial circuits.
In many states, such asMissouri, a judicial circuit can encompass one or morecounties (seeMissouri Circuit Courts). Each circuit court can have several divisions, including circuit, associate,small claims,probate, family, or drug court. Each division hears cases within its particular area ofsubject-matter jurisdiction, and jurisdiction is based on the size or type of a civil claim or the severity or type of a criminal charge.Drug court, for example, hears only drug-related criminal cases.
Several U.S. states havestate supreme courts that traditionally "ride the circuit" in the sense of hearingoral arguments at multiple locations throughout their jurisdictions each year. Among the states with circuit-riding supreme courts areAlaska,California,Idaho,Oregon,Pennsylvania,Tennessee, andWashington.
Courts serving certain areas particularly inNorthern Canada, such as theNunavut Court of Justice and courts serving northernQuebec, travel as circuit courts to hear cases in remote communities. Additionally, Canada's Federal Courts, such as theFederal Court of Appeal and theFederal Court, are also circuit courts, sitting in regional courthouses across Canada (while being based primarily inOttawa).[10]
Courts serving remote areas in theNorthern Territory are known as circuit courts, sometimes referred to as "bush courts".[11]
