An 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 Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...
and some
state supreme courts, and for some other courts in
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, often referred to as the British Commonwealth or simply the Commonwealth, is an International organization, international association of member states of the Commonwealth of Nations, 56 member states, the vast majo ...
countries, as well as for members of the
Supreme Court of the Federated States of Micronesia, a former United States
Trust Territory. In other
common law
Common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law primarily developed through judicial decisions rather than statutes. Although common law may incorporate certain statutes, it is largely based on prece ...
jurisdictions, the equivalent position is called "
Puisne Justice".
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 country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
n state of
New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, 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 () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
, associate judges of the
High Court of New Zealand 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, there are eight
Associate Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States. The most junior associate justice (currently Justice
Ketanji Brown Jackson) 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
{{Reflist
Judges