A place where people gather to settle disputes through a process of law. Courts are the central institution for dispute resolution in both civil and criminal legal systems, where it is understood that everyone has the right to take his or her grievance before a court.

In the United States, federal courts are established for specific subjects, such as bankruptcy, and for certain types of cases, such as criminal misdemeanors, and to decide issues involving international trade (United States Court of International Trade). Each state has trial and superior courts, with some having specialty courts for certain topics. The presiding judges are known as justices, and the judicial branch of government is collectively called the judiciary.

The judicial system includes district courts, which hear initial proceedings in criminal and civil cases and decide many pretrial civil and criminal matters; county courts, which conduct most preliminary proceedings and trial of misdemeanor cases; and municipal and town courts, which handle minor civil and criminal cases, as well as traffic violations and other minor local matters. The Supreme Court of the United States is a separate, independent body with nationwide jurisdiction.

A judge’s directions to a jury before deliberations in a case that determine what facts it must consider and the legal rules that apply. The decision a jury makes in a criminal case that determines whether the defendant is guilty or not guilty of a crime. A court order sent to a jail or prison, a mental hospital, or another institution to hold a person until a hearing can be held, usually concerning a question of mental illness.