Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a
judicial panel member who is not the
chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of 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 ...
and some
state supreme courts, and for some other courts in
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the C ...
countries, as well as for members of the
Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia
The Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia is the highest court in the Federated States of Micronesia. It was established by Article XI of the Constitution of the Federated States of Micronesia. It has both a trial division and an app ...
, a former United States
Trust Territory. In other
common law
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 ...
jurisdictions, the equivalent position is called "
Puisne Justice
A puisne judge or puisne justice (; from french: puisné or ; , 'since, later' + , 'born', i.e. 'junior') is a dated term for an ordinary judge or a judge of lesser rank of a particular court. Use
The term is used almost exclusively in common law ...
".
Commonwealth
The function of associate justices vary depending on the Court they preside in. In the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
n state of
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, associate justices of the
New South Wales Supreme Court hear civil trials and appeals from lower courts amongst other matters. Associate justices can sit either as a single judge or may sit on the
New South Wales Court of Appeal. In
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
, associate judges of the
High Court of New Zealand
The High Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Matua o Aotearoa) is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration ...
supervise preliminary processes in most civil proceedings. associate judges have jurisdiction to deal with such matters as: summary judgment applications, company liquidations, bankruptcy proceedings, and some other types of civil proceedings. In the New Zealand legal system, associate judges were formerly known as
masters.
Micronesia
Under the Constitution of Micronesia, the Supreme Court "consists of the Chief Justice and not more than 5 associate justices". However, as of October 2020 there are only two associate justices in office:
Beauleen Carl-Worswick and Larry Wentworth.
United States
In the United States, judicial panels are non-hierarchical, so an associate judge has the same responsibilities with respect to cases as the chief judge but usually has fewer or different administrative responsibilities than the chief.
Supreme Court
Under the
Judiciary Act of 1869 The Judiciary Act of 1869 (41st Congress, Sess. 1, ch. 22, , enacted April 10, 1869), formally An Act to amend the Judicial System of the United States and sometimes called the Circuit Judges Act of 1869, provided that the Supreme Court of the Unite ...
, there are eight
Associate Justices on the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
. The most junior associate justice (currently Justice
Ketanji Brown Jackson
Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson ( ; born September 14, 1970) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Joe Biden on February 25, 202 ...
) has additional responsibilities to the other associate justices: taking notes of decisions and answering the door in private conference and serving on the Supreme Court's cafeteria committee.
See also
*
Puisne judge
References
Judges
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