I don’t know anything about the Canadian system, but I think (not being a lawyer, I’m not positive) that your characterization of the circuit courts is accurate. And as far as I know, circuit courts review decisions made BOTH by local, non-federal (i.e. state) courts and federal “district” courts. They are the final step in the judicial hierarchy before a Supreme Court review.

The Court System in British Columbia is based on the following hierarchy:

Supreme Court of Canada

British Columbia Court of Appeal

British Columbia Supreme Court

Small Claims Court

The Supreme Court of Canada has authority over all courts in Canada. Decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada must be followed by every judge in Canada.

The Courts of Appeal must follow the Supreme Court of Canada and generally follow other decisions of the Court of Appeal in their province. Courts of Appeal will consider, but do not have to follow, decisions of Courts of Appeal in other provinces.

The B.C. Supreme Court must follow decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada, the B.C. Court of Appeal and generally follow other decisions of the B.C. Supreme Court. Judges of the B.C. Supreme Court will consider, but do not have to follow, decisions of the courts of any other province.

The B.C. Small Claims Court must follow decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada, the B.C. Court of Appeal, the B.C. Supreme Court and may follow other decisions of the B.C. Small Claims Court. Judges of the B.C. Small Claims Court will consider, but do not have to follow, decisions of the courts of any other province.

A person involved in a suit in a U.S. court may proceed through three levels of decision. Generally, the case will be heard and decided by one of the district courts on the first level. If a party is dissatisfied with the decision rendered, the party may have the decision reviewed in one of the courts of appeals. If dissatisfied with the decision of a court of appeals, the party may seek additional review in the Supreme Court of the United States; however, the Supreme Court primarily reviews only cases that involve a matter of great national importance and only accepts a small number of cases each term.

The thirteen courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. federal judicial system. Twelve of these courts have jurisdiction over cases from certain geographic areas. The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has national jurisdiction over specific types of cases.

P.S. The Ninth Circuit, the largest circuit, north to south, includes Alaska, Montana, Oregon, Idaho, California, Nevada, Arizona, and Hawaii. The Tenth Circuit, north to south, includes Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. And finally, the Eleventh Circuit, north to south, includes Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

Heh, a little addition: the Ninth also includes Washington state.

Many thanks. For the US though, what’s the difference between a district court and a federal district court (if there is one)? And is there a level called the “superior court” (lower than district)?

The 13 districts I referred to before are the appellate districts, one of which is located in the federal district of Washington D.C. However, below these there are 94 district courts (trial courts) and the specialized courts, such as the Tax Court, the Court of Federal Claims, the Court of Veterans Appeals, and the Court of International Trade in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the territories of Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. There is a federal district court, and it is located in our federal district, Washington D.C., which has 15 authorized judgeships. This is quite a large number, considering the size of the district, but is justified by the fact that it is located in the seat of government, and thus deals with many matters outside trials.

A district may itself be divided into divisions and may have several places where the court hears cases, and each district court also has a bankruptcy unit, but these are not referred to as “superior courts” here in the U.S. Any courts lower than district courts lie outside the federal court system.

Hope all that helps.

Holy crow Russ. I’m from BC and I don’t even know the legal system half a well as you do.

I’m thoroughly embarrassed.

And I had no idea the US system was so complicated…. :(