Legal Definitions - CERT

CERT is an abbreviation for Certiorari.

Certiorari is a legal process by which a higher court, typically a supreme court, exercises its discretion to review a decision made by a lower court or administrative body. When a court grants certiorari (often referred to as "granting cert"), it issues an order to the lower court, requesting the records of a particular case for review. This process is not an automatic right; the higher court chooses which cases it will hear, usually based on the legal significance of the issues involved, such as conflicts between different lower court rulings or important constitutional questions.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of Certiorari:

• Imagine a situation where a federal appeals court rules that a new state law violates the First Amendment. The state government, believing the law is constitutional, decides to appeal this decision. They would file a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Supreme Court to review the appeals court's ruling. If the Supreme Court agrees that the case presents a significant constitutional question or resolves a conflict among lower courts, it might "grant cert," meaning it will hear the case and issue a final decision on the constitutionality of the state law.

• Consider a complex environmental regulation case where a state's highest administrative tribunal makes a final decision regarding a company's permit. The company believes the tribunal misinterpreted a key statute and exceeded its authority. In many jurisdictions, the company could file a writ of certiorari with the state's supreme court (or an equivalent high court) to challenge the administrative tribunal's decision. The supreme court would then review the record to determine if the tribunal acted within its legal bounds or made a significant error of law, rather than re-evaluating the facts of the case.

• A civil rights organization brings a lawsuit challenging a city ordinance, arguing it discriminates against a particular group. After losing in both the federal district court and the federal court of appeals, the organization believes the lower courts misapplied a crucial precedent from the Supreme Court. They would then file a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the Supreme Court receives thousands of such petitions each year and grants very few. If the Court determines that the case does not present a novel legal question, resolve a circuit split, or involve a matter of national importance, it will "deny cert," meaning it declines to hear the case, and the lower court's decision stands as final.