Lower court
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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.