Authority Case Legal Definition

Unlike coercive authority, persuasive authority describes a source of law – primary or secondary – that has some authoritative weight, but is not binding on a court. n. the power conferred by law on a court to hear cases and rule on legal issues in a specific geographical area and/or on certain types of cases. Before taking legal action, it is important to determine which court has jurisdiction. State courts have jurisdiction over matters within the jurisdiction of that state, and different levels of courts have jurisdiction over actions involving different amounts of money. For example, superior courts (called district or district courts in several states) generally have exclusive control over lawsuits for large sums of money, domestic relationships (divorces), estates of deceased persons, guardianships, conservatories, and trial of crimes. In some States (such as New York), probate and certain other matters fall within the jurisdiction of the so-called surrogate courts. District courts (or other local courts) have jurisdiction over cases involving smaller sums of money, misdemeanours (crimes that cannot be punished by the state prison), traffic cases, and preliminary hearings on criminal offenses to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant proceedings before the Supreme Court. Some states have police courts to deal with offenses. The jurisdiction of the courts of a given State may be determined by the location of immovable property in a State (in the jurisdiction in rem) or whether the parties are located in the State (in personam jurisdiction). Thus, an estate of Marsha Blackwood`s estate would be in Idaho, where she lived and died, but jurisdiction over her Utah real estate claim will be under the jurisdiction of the Utah courts. Federal courts have jurisdiction over disputes between citizens of different states, cases based on federal laws such as fair labor standards and antitrust violations, federal crime charges, bankruptcy appeals, maritime cases, or lawsuits related to federal constitutional issues.

Sometimes regulators have initial jurisdiction before a lawsuit can be brought in court. Multiple courts may have jurisdiction at the same time, for example: State and federal courts, as well as the attorney filing the lawsuit, may need to make a tactical decision on the jurisdiction most favorable or useful to their case, including time to go to court, potential jury pool, or other considerations. The power of appeal is conferred by law on the courts of appeal to hear appeals against the judgment of the lower court which heard a case and to order the annulment or any other correction if an error is found. State appeals fall under the jurisdiction of the state courts of appeal, while appeals from the federal district courts fall under the jurisdiction of the courts of appeal and, possibly, the Supreme Court. Jurisdiction should not be confused with “jurisdiction,” which means that the best place to hear a case is. Therefore, any state court may have jurisdiction over a matter, but the “jurisdiction” is in a particular county. When making a court decision, a judge may base his or her opinion on both convincing and mandatory authority. Persuasion consists of written statements from subordinate courts or courts of other jurisdictions, which a judge is not required to respect, but which may help influence the judge`s decision. On the other hand, there is a binding power in the statements in the opinions of the higher courts, to which a judge is obliged to obey. Government agencies created and delegated with official responsibilities, such as a district road authority.

In legal research and citation, entities are cited as sources of law such as laws, court decisions, and legal manuals. The parties support their positions in a trial by citing the authorities in pleadings, motions and other documents submitted to the court. Other sources that are a persuasive authority include reformulations, treatises, and jury instructions. The relevant weight that a court attaches to these other sources varies by jurisdiction. ** Multiple cases of the same court? First, cite the most recent decision and continue with the oldest one. (n. 1) previous decisions of courts of appeal that provide a tribunal with legal advice on issues in an ongoing dispute referred to as “precedents”. Legal pleadings (written arguments) are often referred to as “points and authorities”.

Thus, a lawyer “cites” previously decided cases as “authorities” for his legal positions. 2) a common term for law enforcement, as in “I will call the authorities” (i.e. the police). (See: Previous, quote, short film) The authorities are also cited by scholars in legal treatises, horn books, and reformulations to determine the basis of the statements and conclusions contained in the works. Whether a court decision is a convincing authority or a binding authority depends on the rank and jurisdiction of the courts concerned. A decision of a lower court is a convincing authority for a higher court. Therefore, a decision of another court is a persuasive authority for the Supreme Court, as it is the highest court in the United States. In general, a decision of a court of equal rank is a convincing authority. For example, decisions of the court of first instance before the same court of first instance are not binding. A decision of a court in one jurisdiction is a convincing authority for the courts of another jurisdiction.

For example, federal court decisions are not binding on state courts and vice versa, and decisions of other state courts are not binding on state courts. For more information on the authorities` order, check out this article from the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, this article from Paralegal Today, and this article from the South Carolina School of Law. Although court decisions with persuasive power do not constitute a binding precedent, a court may choose to rely on and follow the decisions. Cases like this one from Michigan indicate that a court can follow the decisions of another jurisdiction if the reasoning is convincing. Courts may also be guided by decisions of other jurisdictions; for example, when you decide on first-impression issues — like this one from Colorado — or issues where the state forum law isn`t clear — like this one from Utah. However, a court will not follow decisions of convincing authority if the decision violates public policy of the court of the forum. Primary authorities are quotations of laws, court decisions and government orders which, if they have the force of law, must be applied by the court to resolve the disputed issue if they are relevant to the matter. Secondary authorities are references to treaties, manuals or reformulations that explain and examine the general principles of law underlying a party`s position in a dispute.

These authorities have no legal effect and can be ignored by the court. AUTHORITIES, practice. This word refers to quotations made from laws, actions of the legislator and decided cases and opinions of elementary writers. In its narrower sense, this word refers to cases decided on the basis of solemn arguments that are said to be “authorities for similar judgments iii as cases. 1 Lilly Regulation 219. The latter are sometimes called precedents. (n.a.) Merlin, Repertoire, word Authorities. 2. It has been noted that if we find an opinion in an author of a text on a certain point, we must consider it not only as the opinion of the author, but as the alleged result of the authorities to which he refers; 3 Bos.

& Shoot. 361; However, this is not always the case, and often the opinion is advanced with the reasons that support it, and it must be maintained or fall, because these are founded or not. A distinction was made between writers who did so and those who did not enter a legal position; The former are considered an authority, and the latter are not considered unless their works have been judicially approved as such. Ram. zu Urteilen, 93. But this distinction does not seem to be well justified; Some writers who have held a judicial position do not possess the talents or learning of others who are not so sublime, and the works or writings of the latter deserve much more the character of an authority than those of the former. See 3 T. R. 4, 241.

(5) Statutes of the current codification (by codification order) (d) Founding documents of the United Nations, the League of Nations and the European Union (in that order) (5) District Bankruptcy Courts and Railway Restructuring Tribunals (2) Courts of Appeal, Court of Emergency Appeal and Emergency Temporary Court of Appeal (3) Court of Appeal, Court of Appeal, Customs and Patent Court and Insolvency Appeals Chambers (g) Newspaper and newspaper articles (in alphabetical order of the author`s surname; if not available, after the first word of the title) 4) Repealed laws (first cite the most recent adopted and continue at the earliest) 5. All cancelled documents (after the effective date, with the most recent one first). * Instigation by courts that issue expert opinions; Prehistory and post-history are irrelevant. (d) Reviews of non-student books (in alphabetical order by examiner`s surname) (b) U.S. state constitutions, alphabetical by state 13) Other international courts and arbitral tribunals (in alphabetical order by name) *** For the above rule, all U.S. courts of appeals and federal district courts are treated as a single court (f) Notes (last first and in the direction of the oldest) 6. Administrative and executive documents, in the following order – 7) Administrative bodies (in alphabetical order of body) 7. Resolutions, decisions and regulations of intergovernmental organizations in the following order -. (12) International Court of Justice and Permanent International Court of Justice. * For literacy, use only the last name of the first author listed. If it is not available, switch to the title immediately.

4) Bezirksgerichte, Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation und Court of International Trade (früher Zollgericht) 2.