法院；法庭(court)

指进行司法审判程序的建筑物或场所。原意是指一个围起来的场所，在建筑学上的涵义也是如此--法官坐的审判席设在围栏内，辩护人、律师和公众坐在法官席的外侧。开始时，这些围栏是露天的临时建筑，後来才变成固定的大房间或大厅，即审判厅。英国的法院依以下表徵分为︰一是区分为审理刑事案件的法院和审理民事案件的法院；二是区分为进行初审司法程序的初审法院和复审初审法院判决的上诉法院，上诉法院的判决涉及重大法律观点，有可能经英国上议院复审。在美国，各州有各州全面独立的法院系统，包括受理上诉的州最高法院、一般司法管辖权的审判法院和专门的法庭（如遗嘱检验法庭）。同时设有联邦法院系统，处理属於全国性的或不适於州法院审理的问题和案件。分为三级：第一级是美国最高法院，第二级是美国联邦上诉法院，第三级是美国联邦地方法院。此外还有审判军职人员或其他被控触犯军法人员的军事法庭。在过去，教会法庭也拥有极大的司法管辖权。

English version：

court

Official assembly with judicial authority to hear and determine disputes in particular cases. Judicial tribunals were originally enclosures (courts in an architectural sense) where the judges sat, while lawyers and the general public had to remain outside a bar (hence the term bar in legal contexts). Modern British courts are divided into those trying criminal cases and those trying civil cases; a second distinction is made between inferior courts, or courts of first instance, and superior courts, or courts of appeal. In the U.S., each state has its own comprehensive system of courts, usually consisting of a superior (appellate) court, trial courts of general jurisdiction, and specialized courts (e.g., probate courts). The U.S. also has a system of federal courts, established to adjudicate distinctively national questions and cases not appropriately tried in state courts. At the apex of the national system is the U.S. Supreme Court. The secondary level consists of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. U.S. District Courts form the tertiary level. Crimes committed by military figures may be tried in a court-martial, and in the past ecclesiastical courts also had broad jurisdiction. See also International Court of Justice, judiciary.