First Instance

views updated

FIRST INSTANCE

The initial trial court where an action is brought.

A court of first instance is distinguishable from an appellate court, which is a court of last instance. In the federal court system, a federal district court is a court of first instance, whereas the Supreme Court is the court of last instance.

West's Encyclopedia of American Law

More From encyclopedia.com

Court , COURT A judicial tribunal established to administer justice. An entity in the government to which the administration of justice is delegated. In a br… State Courts , Judicial tribunals established by each of the fifty states. Each of the fifty state court systems in the United States operates independently under t… Ecclesiastical Courts , ecclesiastical courts have existed alongside secular courts from the Norman Conquest onwards, though their activities were much diminished after the… Federal Courts , The U.S. judicial tribunals created by Article III of the Constitution, or by Congress, to hear and determinejusticiablecontroversies. The Constituti… Judicature Acts , Judicature Acts, 1873–5. These Acts brought about a much needed reorganization of the courts in England and Wales. Before the Acts there were a numbe… Judiciary , The branch of government that is endowed with the authority to interpret and apply the law, adjudicate legal disputes, and otherwise administer justi…

About this article

First Instance

Updated About encyclopedia.com content Print Article

You Might Also Like

NEARBY TERMS

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc.

First Inaugural Address of President Franklin D. Roosevelt

First Inaugural Address

first in first out

First Impression

First Hawaiian, Inc.

first generation

First Financial Management Corporation

First Fidelity Bank, N.A., New Jersey

First Fashion Publications

First Farmers of Europe

First Farmers of Central Europe

First Executive Corporation

First Execution of a Woman in Texas Since 1863

First Encounter

First Empire State Corporation

First Do No Harm

First diffusion

First Degree 1998

First Degree 1995

First Daughter 2004

First Daughter 1999

First Instance

first intention

First International

First International Computer, Inc.

First Interstate Bancorp

first inversion

First Ladies' Gowns

First Love (Pervaia Liubov') by Ivan Turgenev, 1860

First Love 1939

First Love 1970

First Love 1977

First Love and Other Pains / One of Them

First Love, Last Rites

First Man and First Woman

First Man into Space

First Men in the Moon

First Mississippi Corporation

First Monday in October