Judiciary of Hawaii


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 administrator-in-chief.

Principal courts

The Hawaii State judiciary has four levels; two at the trial level and two at the appellate level. The trial-level courts are the district court, for lesser offenses and minor civil cases, and circuit court, for more serious offenses and major civil cases. There are two appellate courts, the Intermediate Court of Appeals, the lower appellate court, and the Supreme Court, for appeals from the decision of the Intermediate Court via certiorari, and for certain cases, such as election cases, over which it exercises original jurisdiction.
The specific roles and names of the courts are as follows: