Supreme court

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Seats of supreme courts:

• Supreme Court of the United States
• Supreme Court of Kazakhstan

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• Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland
• Supreme Court of Argentina

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• Supreme Court of Costa Rica
• Supreme Court of Spain

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• Supreme Court of Japan
• High Court of Australia

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• Supreme Court of India
• Supreme Court of Ghana

In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court are binding on all other courts in a nation and are not subject to further review by any other court. Supreme courts typically function primarily as appellate courts, hearing appeals from decisions of lower trial courts, or from intermediate-level appellate courts. A supreme court can also, in certain circumstances, act as a court of original jurisdiction.^{[1][additional citation(s) needed]}

Civil law states tend not to have a single highest court. Some federations, such as the United States, also do not have a single highest court. The highest court in some jurisdictions is not named the "Supreme Court", for example, the High Court of Australia. On the other hand, in some places the court named the "Supreme Court" is not in fact the highest court; examples include the New York Supreme Court, the supreme courts of several Canadian provinces/territories, and the former Supreme Court of Judicature of England and Wales and Supreme Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland, which are all subordinate to higher courts of appeal.