|
The California courts of appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided into six appellate districts.〔See (California Government Code Section 69100 ).〕 The courts of appeal form the largest state-level intermediate appellate court system in the United States, with 105 justices. ==Jurisdiction and responsibility== The decisions of the courts of appeal are binding on the California superior courts, and both the courts of appeal and the superior courts are bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court of California. Notably, all published California appellate decisions are binding on all trial courts〔''Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court,'', (57 Cal. 2d 450, 369 P.2d 937, 20 Cal. Rptr. 321 ) (1962).〕 (distinct from the practice in the federal courts and in other state court systems in which trial courts are bound only by the appellate decisions from the particular circuit in which it sits, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States or the state supreme court).〔See, e.g., ''Reiser v. Residential Funding Corp.'', 380 F.3d 1027 (7th Cir. 2004).〕 By way of contrast, "there is no horizontal stare decisis in the California Court of Appeal";〔''Sarti v. Salt Creek Ltd.'', (167 Cal.App.4th 1187, 1193 ) (2008).〕 Court of Appeal decisions are not binding between divisions or even between panels of the same division.〔''McCallum v. McCallum'', (190 Cal.App.3d 308, 315 n.4 ) (1987).〕 It is customary in federal courts and other state courts to indicate in case citations the particular circuit or district of an intermediate appellate court that issued the decision cited. But because the decisions of all six California appellate districts are equally binding upon all trial courts, district numbers are traditionally omitted in California citation style unless an actual interdistrict conflict is at issue. All California appellate courts are required by the California Constitution to decide criminal cases in writing with reasons stated (meaning that even in criminal appeals where the defendant's own lawyer has tacitly conceded that the appeal has no merit,〔The so-called ''Wende'' appellate procedure was upheld as compatible with the Fourteenth Amendment in ''Smith v. Robbins'', .〕 the appellate decision ''must'' summarize the facts and law of the case and review possible issues independently before concluding that the appeal is without merit).〔''People v. Kelly'', (40 Cal. 4th 106 ) (2006).〕 Such procedure is not mandated for civil cases, but for certain types of civil cases where a liberty interest is implicated, the courts of appeal may, but are not required to, follow a similar procedure.〔''Conservatorship of Ben C.'', 40 Cal.4th 529, 150 P.3d 738, 53 Cal.Rptr. 3d 856 (2007).〕〔''In re Sade C.'', 13 Cal.4th 952, 920 P.2d 716, 55 Cal.Rptr. 2d 771 (1996).〕 Most Court of Appeal opinions are not published and have no precedential value;〔''Schmier v. Supreme Court'', (78 Cal.App.4th 703 ) (2000). The plaintiff in this case unsuccessfully challenged the selective publication policy as unconstitutional. The court retorted: "Appellant either misunderstands or ignores the realities of the intermediate appellate process." The court went on to describe the variety of frivolous appeals regularly encountered by the courts of appeal, and concluded: "Our typical opinions in such cases add nothing to the body of stare decisis, and if published would merely clutter overcrowded library shelves and databases with information utterly useless to anyone other than the actual litigants therein and complicate the search for meaningful precedent."〕 the opinions that are published are included in the official reporter, ''California Appellate Reports''. In addition, West Publishing traditionally included Court of Appeal opinions in its unofficial reporter, the ''Pacific Reporter''. In 1959, West began publishing both Supreme Court and Court of Appeal opinions in ''West's California Reporter'', and no longer included Court of Appeal opinions in the ''Pacific Reporter''. Due to their huge caseloads and volume of output, the courts of appeal in turn see the largest number of decisions appealed to the state supreme court and the Supreme Court of the United States. A few famous U.S. Supreme Court cases, such as ''Burnham v. Superior Court of California'', came to the high court on writ of certiorari to one of the courts of appeal after the state supreme court had denied review. Many Court of Appeal opinions have become nationally prominent in their own right, such as the 1959 opinion that carved out the first judge-made exception to the at-will employment doctrine, the 1980 opinion that authorized a cause of action for wrongful life, and the 1984 opinion that created the right to Cumis counsel. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「California courts of appeal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|