Supreme Court of Hawaii

The Supreme Court of Hawaii is the highest court of the State of Hawaii in the United States. Its decisions are binding on all other courts of the Hawaii State Judiciary. The principal purpose of the Supreme Court is to review the decisions of the trial courts in which appeals have been granted. Appeals are decided by the members of the Supreme Court based on written records and in some cases may grant oral arguments in the main Supreme Court chamber. Like its mainland United States counterparts, the Supreme Court does not take evidence and uses only evidence provided in previous trials.The court meets in Aliiōlani Hale in Honolulu.FunctionsThe Hawaii State Supreme Court has original jurisdiction to answer questions of law that have been passed to it from trial courts or the federal court, hear civil cases submitted to the Supreme Court on agreed statements of facts, and decide questions coming from proceedings of writs of mandamus, prohibition and habeas corpus.JusticesThe Supreme Court consists of five justices who are initially appointed to ten-year terms by the Governor of Hawaii, who makes his or her nomination from a list of four to six candidates from the Hawaii Judicial Selection Commission. The Governor's nominee is subject to confirmation by the Hawaii State Senate. Candidates must be U.S. citizens, Hawaii residents, and have been licensed to practice law for at least 10 years prior to nomination. The Judicial Selection Commission can opt to retain incumbent justices for additional ten-year terms. All justices must retire at 70 years of age.