Judiciary of California
The Judiciary of California or the Judicial Branch of California is defined under the California Constitution as holding the judicial power of the state of California which is vested in the Supreme Court, the Courts of Appeal and the Superior Courts. The judiciary has a hierarchical structure with the California Supreme Court at the top, California Courts of Appeal as the primary appellate courts, and the California Superior Courts as the primary trial courts. The policymaking body of the California courts is the Judicial Council and its staff. The judicial system of California is the largest in the United States that is fully staffed by professional law-trained judges. In fiscal year 2020-21, the state judiciary's 2,000 judicial officers and 18,000 judicial branch employees processed approximately 4.4 million cases. In comparison, the federal judicial system has only about 870 judges. Although New York and Texas each technically have more judicial officers than California, most of them are not attorneys and have no formal legal training. Courts The judiciary has a hierarchical structure with the Supreme Court at the apex, courts of appeal as the primary appellate courts, and the superior courts as the primary trial courts. Supreme Court The Supreme Court