Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas

Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas

The Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of the Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania (the state court system of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania).

The Courts of Common Pleas are the trial courts of general jurisdiction in the state.

They hear civil cases with a significant amount in controversy and trials for serious crimes. They have original jurisdiction over all cases not exclusively assigned to another court and appellate jurisdiction over judgments from the minor courts (which include the magisterial district courts in all counties but Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Municipal Court and Philadelphia Traffic Court, and Pittsburgh Municipal Court). They also hear appeals from certain state and most local government agencies.

The courts are established by Article V, Section 5 of the Pennsylvania Constitution: "There shall be one court of common pleas for each judicial district (a) having such divisions and consisting of such number of judges as shall be provided by law, one of whom shall be the president judge; and (b) having unlimited original jurisdiction in all cases except as may otherwise be provided by law."

The Courts of Common Pleas are organized into 60 judicial districts, 53 comprising one of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, and seven comprising two counties.

Each district has from one to 93 judges. Judges of the Common Pleas courts are elected to 10-year terms. A president judge and a court administrator serve in each judicial district. In districts with seven or fewer judges, the president judge with the longest continuous service holds this position. In districts with eight or more judges, the president judge is elected to a five-year term by the court.

Judicial districts

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Court of Common Pleas — may refer to several different courts: England and Wales and Ireland: Court of Common Pleas (England) Court of Common Pleas (Ireland) United States: four types of state trial courts still in existence, all with names stemming from English common… …   Wikipedia

  • Court of Common Pleas (United States) — In United States jurisprudence, Court of Common Pleas is a court of certain jurisdiction. It stems from the Court of Common Pleas in the English legal system and was brought to the United States by the colonial settlers along with the rest of the …   Wikipedia

  • Court of Common Pleas (Vereinigte Staaten) — Ein Court of Common Pleas ist in den Rechtswissenschaften der USA ein Begriff, der ein Gericht mit bestimmten Zuständigkeiten bezeichnet. Er stammt vom Court of Common Pleas im englischen Rechtssystem ab und wurde von den Kolonisten zusammen mit… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Courts of the United States — include both the United States federal courts, comprising the judicial branch of the federal government of the United States (operating under the authority of the United States Constitution and federal law) and state and territorial courts of the …   Wikipedia

  • Courts of Pennsylvania — include: State courts of Pennsylvania Supreme Court of Pennsylvania[1] Superior Court of Pennsylvania (3 districts)[2] Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania[3] Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas (60 judicial districts)[4] Special Courts of… …   Wikipedia

  • Court of Common Pleas — In English law, one of the four superior courts at Westminster, which existed up to the passing of the judicature acts. It was also styled the Common Bench . It was one of the courts derived from the breaking up of the aula regis, and had… …   Black's law dictionary

  • Court of Common Pleas — In English law, one of the four superior courts at Westminster, which existed up to the passing of the judicature acts. It was also styled the Common Bench . It was one of the courts derived from the breaking up of the aula regis, and had… …   Black's law dictionary

  • Courts of Ohio — include: State courts of Ohio The Ohio Judicial Center, current headquarters of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Supreme Court of Ohio[1] Ohio District Courts of Appeal (12 districts) …   Wikipedia

  • Pennsylvania — (State of Pennsylvania [spr. Steht of Pennsylwehnie]; officielle Abkürzung: Pa., seltner Penn.), einer der ursprünglichen 13 Staaten der nordamerikanischen Union, jetzt einer der sechs sogenannten Mittelstaaten, nächst New York der volkreichste u …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Pennsylvania — This article is about the U.S. State of Pennsylvania. For other uses, see Pennsylvania (disambiguation). Pensilvania redirects here. For the town in Colombia, see Pensilvania, Caldas. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”