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 court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
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 ...
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 appe ...
, 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".
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
''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the L ...
n state of
New South Wales, 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, 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
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) 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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