The Hawaii State Circuit Courts are the trial court

Trial court

A trial court or court of first instance is a court in which trials take place. Such courts are said to have original jurisdiction.- In the United States :...

s of general jurisdiction

General jurisdiction

A court of general jurisdiction is one that has the authority to hear cases of all kinds - criminal, civil, family, probate, and so forth.-Courts of general jurisdiction in the United States:All federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. Many U.S...

 in Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. They are the primary civil and criminal courts of the Hawaii State Judiciary

Hawaii State Judiciary

The Hawaii State Judiciary is the official name of the judicial system of Hawaii in the United States. Based in Honolulu, the Hawaii State Judiciary is a unified state court system that functions under the Chief Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court who is its...

. The Circuit Courts are the only Hawaii state courts to conduct jury trial

Jury trial

A jury trial is a legal proceeding in which a jury either makes a decision or makes findings of fact which are then applied by a judge...

s. (The District Courts

Hawaii State District Courts

The Hawaii State District Courts are a level of state courts in Hawaii.In addition, the District Courts have jurisdiction over:*Civil cases with an amount in controversy not in excess of $25,000 or where the relief sought is specific performance valued under $25,000...

 conduct bench trial

Bench trial

A bench trial is a trial held before a judge sitting without a jury. The term is chiefly used in common law jurisdictions to describe exceptions from jury trial, as most other legal systems do not use juries to any great extent....

s while the Intermediate Court of Appeals

Hawaii Intermediate Court of Appeals

The Hawaii State Intermediate Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court of the Hawaii State Judiciary.It shares jurisdiction over appeals from lower courts with the Hawaii State Supreme Court...

 and Supreme Court are appellate court

Appellate court

An appellate court, commonly called an appeals court or court of appeals or appeal court , is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal...

s).

The circuit courts have exclusive

Exclusive jurisdiction

In civil procedure, exclusive jurisdiction exists where one court has the power to adjudicate a case to the exclusion of all other courts. It is the opposite situation from concurrent jurisdiction, in which more than one court may take jurisdiction over the case.Exclusive jurisdiction is typically...

 original jurisdiction

Original jurisdiction

The original jurisdiction of a court is the power to hear a case for the first time, as opposed to appellate jurisdiction, when a court has the power to review a lower court's decision.-France:...

 over probate

Probate

Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate court decides the validity of a testator's will...

 and guardianship

Legal guardian

A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...

 cases, criminal

Criminal law

Criminal law, is the body of law that relates to crime. It might be defined as the body of rules that defines conduct that is not allowed because it is held to threaten, harm or endanger the safety and welfare of people, and that sets out the punishment to be imposed on people who do not obey...

 felony

Felony

A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...

 cases, and civil cases where the amount in controversy

Amount in controversy

Amount in controversy is a term used in United States civil procedure to denote the amount at stake in a lawsuit, in particular in connection with a requirement that persons seeking to bring a lawsuit in a particular court must be suing for a certain minimum amount before that court may hear the...

exceeds US$25,000.

External links

• "Civil Court Rooms Resemble a Ghost Town According to Hawaii TV Station", Court Watch, November 13, 2005