资源描述：
《法英补充材料》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在工程资料-天天文库。
1、Lesson3a.TrialCourts初审法院Trialcourtsareexactlywhattheirnameimplies,courtsinwhichtrialsareheldandtestimonytaken.Statetrialcourtshaveeithergeneralorlimitedjurisdiction.Trialcourtsthathavegeneraljurisdictionastosubjectmattermaybecalledcounty,district,superior,orcirc
2、uitcourts.Thejurisdictionofthesecourtsisoftendeterminedbythesizeofthecountyinwhichthecourtssit.Statetrialcourtsofgeneraljurisdictionhavejurisdictionoverawidevarietyofsubjects,includingbothcivildisputesandcriminalprosecutions.Insomecases,trialcourtsofgeneraljuris
3、dictionmayhearappealsfromcourtsoflimitedjurisdiction.Somecourtsoflimitedjurisdictionarecalledspecialinferiortrialcourtsorminorjudiciarycourts.Smallclaimscourtsareinferiortrialcourtsthathearonlycivilcasesinvolvingclaimsoflessthanacertainamount,suchas$5,000(theamo
4、untvariesfromstatetostate).Suitsbroughtinsmallclaimscourtsaregenerallyconductedinformally,andlawyersarenotevenallowedtorepresentpeoplesinsmallclaimscourtsformostpurposes.Anotherexampleofaninferiortrialcourtisalocalmunicipalcourtthathearsmainlytrafficcases.Decisi
5、onsofsmallclaimscourtsandmunicipalcourtsmaybeappealedtoastatetrialcourtofgeneraljurisdiction.Othercourtsoflimitedjurisdictionastosubjectmatterincludedomesticrelationscourts,whichhandleonlydivorceactionsandchild-custodycases,andprobatecourts.b.CourtsofAppeals上诉法院
6、Everystatehasatleastonecourtofappeals(appellatecourt,orreviewingcourt),whichmaybeanintermediateappellatecourtorthestatershighestcourt.Aboutthree-fourthsofthestateshaveintermediateappellatecourts.Generally,courtsofappealsdonotconductnewtrials,inwhichevidenceissub
7、mittedtothecourtandwitnessesareexamined.Rather,anappellatecourtpanelofthreeormorejudgesreviewstherecordofthecaseonappeal,whichincludesatranscriptofthetrialproceedings,anddetermineswhetherthetrialcourtcommittedanerror;Usually,appellatecourtsdonotlookatthequestion
8、soffact(suchaswhetherapartydid,infact,commitacertainaction,suchasburningaflag)butatquestionsoflaw(suchaswhethertheactofflag-burningisaformofspeechprotectedbytheFirstA
