high court

high court (plural high courts)

1. A supreme court; a court to which final appeals may be taken.
   • 1833, Noah Worcester, A solemn review of the custom of war‎, page 7:

     But if the eyes of people could be opened in regard to the evils and delusions of war, would it not be easy to form a confederacy of nations, and organize a high court of equity, to decide national controversies?

   • 1840, Samuel Perkins, The World as it is: Containing a View of the Present Condition of Its Principal Nations‎:

     The judicial power is vested in three high courts consisting of four judges each, and having concurrent jurisdiction in all civil matters; and in a great number of inferior municipal courts.

   • 2004, Gretchen Helmke, Courts under Constraints: Judges, Generals, and Presidents in Argentina‎:

     Compared with most Latin American courts, on paper the Argentine judiciary is among the most insulated high courts in the region.

2. A superior court; a court of general competence which typically has unlimited jurisdiction with regard to civil and criminal legal cases.

• court of last resort