In some jurisdictions, a petition for review is a formal request for an appellate tribunal to review the decision of a lower court or administrative body. If a jurisdiction utilizes petitions for review, then parties seeking appellate review of their case may submit a formal petition for review to an appropriate court. In

United States federal courts The federal judiciary of the United States is one of the three branches of the federal government of the United States organized under the United States Constitution and laws of the federal government. The U.S. federal judiciary consists primaril ...

, the term "petition for review" is also used to describe

petition A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer called supplication. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some offi ...

s that seek review of federal agency actions.

Function of petitions for review in appellate procedure

In jurisdictions that utilize petitions for review, parties may file a

in an appellate tribunal that asks the appellate tribunal to determine whether the previous court or tribunal reached the correct outcome. In some jurisdictions, appellate tribunals will not rule on issues that are not raised in petitions for review. Some courts also prohibit parties from filing other motions (such as a

motion for summary judgment In law, a summary judgment (also judgment as a matter of law or summary disposition) is a judgment entered by a court for one party and against another party summarily, i.e., without a full trial. Summary judgments may be issued on the merits of ...

) when they file petitions for review. Because United States ''habeas corpus'' law requires petitioners for writs of ''habeas corpus'' to have exhausted state court remedies if they were convicted by a state court, ''habeas'' petitioners must first file a petition for review in the highest court in the state in which they were convicted, and raise all applicable issues, before filing a petition for writ of ''habeas corpus'' in federal court. However, in some cases, appellants may pursue issues on appeal by filing both a petition for review as well as a petition for writ of ''habeas corpus''.

Difference between petitions for review and petitions for ''certiorari''

In the

common law tradition In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omniprese ...

, only the

Court of Chancery The Court of Chancery was a court of equity in England and Wales that followed a set of loose rules to avoid a slow pace of change and possible harshness (or "inequity") of the common law. The Chancery had jurisdiction over all matters of equ ...

had the power to grant

prerogative writ A prerogative writ is a historic term for a writ (official order) that directs the behavior of another arm of government, such as an agency, official, or other court. It was originally available only to the Crown under English law, and reflect ...

s that directed inferior tribunals to send a record of proceedings to a higher court for review.David M. Walker, 197 (1980). Beginning in the sixteenth century, the Court of King's Bench also gained the power to issue prerogative writs. Over time, the power to grant ''

certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

'' became the power to grant an order as "a means of controlling inferior courts and persons and bodies having authority to determine issues affecting the rights of individuals". However, writs of ''certiorari'' are traditionally only used when "the inferior body has acted without jurisdiction or determined an issue wrongly in law, but not on the ground that it had misconceived a point of law if it had jurisdiction and the proceedings are ''ex facie'' regular, nor on the ground that its decision is wrong in fact". In England, the

Administrative Court An administrative court is a type of court specializing in administrative law, particularly disputes concerning the exercise of public power. Their role is to ascertain that official acts are consistent with the law. Such courts are considered s ...

(part of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice) now issues "quashing orders" rather than writs of ''certiorari''. In the United States, the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. Federal tribunals in the United States, federal court cases, and over Stat ...

grants writs of ''certiorari'' "to review questions of law or to correct errors or excesses by lower courts". However, some state courts in the United States require parties seeking appellate review to submit petitions for review, instead of petitions for ''certiorari'', where the appellate tribunal grants an order that allows for review of the inferior tribunal's decision.

Petitions for review of agency actions

, parties may seek review or enforcement of federal agency order by filing a petition for review in a

United States circuit court of appeals The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...

that has jurisdiction to review decisions from that agency. The court actions of enjoining, suspending and/or modifying the agency order is inherently part of a petition for review. When a party submits a petition for review, the petitioner "must either identify in he administrativerecord evidence sufficient to support its standing to seek review or, if there is none because standing was not an issue before the agency, submit additional evidence to the court of appeals". Once one party has filed a petition review, other parties may also file ''cross petitions for review'', which also seek review of some or all of the issues decided by the lower court. The reviewing court may vacate the agency's actions, it may vacate the action and remand the case to the agency for "further action or explanation", it may remand the case without vacating the decision, or it may dismiss the petition for review.Harry T. Edwards, ''Collegiality and Decision Making on the D.C. Circuit'', 84 1335, 1370 (1998).

References

{{reflist, 30em Appellate review Judiciaries Lawsuits Legal procedure

Function of petitions for review in appellate procedure

Difference between petitions for review and petitions for ''certiorari''

Petitions for review of agency actions

See also

References