The Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court are the two appellate courts of the State of Georgia. The Court of Appeals created in 1906 handles both civil and criminal cases which arise from cases in the trial courts (the superior, state, juvenile, probate, magistrate, municipal, and other miscellaneous local courts). Parties can petition the Supreme Court of Georgia for review of decisions of the Court of Appeals. Information on the history of the Court of Appeals is available on the Court web page at www.gaappeals.us .

The primary function of the Court of Appeals is to review decisions made by trial courts in the state's judicial system. Cases are initiated by the filing of a notice of appeal with the trial court or the filing of an application with the Clerk of the Court pursuant to the state statutes and the rules of the Court. The Court of Appeals has adopted rules for the guidance of the bar and litigants which are published on the Court's web page and paper copies are available from the Clerk's Office.

In direct appeals, the parties are given the opportunity to file briefs containing the facts and arguments supporting their side in the appeal. Parties may request oral argument before the Court. If oral argument is granted by the Court, each side will have a maximum of 15 minutes to present the argument. Decisions are not made on the day of the argument. However, the Court of Appeals, pursuant to the Georgia Constitution, must issue a decision within two terms of court: the term in which the appeal is docketed and the next term. The Court has three terms of court per year.

The Court is given the discretion by statute to determine whether to permit an appeal in certain types of cases. In those types of cases, filing an application with the Court is the procedure required to request the Court to permit an appeal. The Court will issue its decision granting, denying, or dismissing the application within no more than 45 days. If an application is granted, the party who made the application will be given a limited period of time in which to then file a Notice of Appeal with the trial court.

The Court has 12 judges who are elected statewide for six-year terms. The judges are organized into 4 panels of 3 judges each. Most case decisions are made by a 3 judge panel, although in certain circumstances 7 judges or all 12 judges will render a decision.

The Court of Appeals dockets over 3000 cases per year and issues about __________opinions per year. There are about ____direct appeals and ___ applications. Appeals from criminal cases are about ___% of direct appeals and civil cases are about __%.