Lower court - Definition and Overview

The phrase lower court has several possible meanings in English:

• In reference to an appeal, the lower court is the court whose decision is being reviewed. The lower court, in this relative sense, may be a trial court or may itself be an appellate court that is lower in rank than the reviewing court.

• In an absolute sense, lower court refers to a trial court as opposed to an appellate court.

• As among trial courts, a lower court is a court of limited jurisdiction, especially one that is limited to hearing minor offenses or small civil disputes, as opposed to a superior court.