Florida District Courts of Appeal - Jurisdiction

Jurisdiction

The Court's Jurisdiction is set forth in Florida Rule of Appellate Procedure 9.030.

Appeals are usually heard by a three-judge panel. Occasionally a DCA will hold an en banc hearing, in which all the judges participate.

Case law and decisions from a District Court of Appeal are persuasive and often cited by other District Courts of Appeal, but are not binding precedent on those courts. However, the decisions and case law precedent of each District Court of Appeal are binding upon all of the circuit and county courts within the State of Florida. See Pardo v. State, 596 So.2d 665 (Fla. 1992). In the event of a conflict between the decisions of different District Courts of Appeal, county and circuit courts must adhere to the case law of their own District Court.

District Courts of Appeal may recede from certain case law and precedent in subsequent decisions, or the Supreme Court may override a district court's precedent in favor of conflicting case law from another district. Because the Florida Supreme Court has predominantly discretionary jurisdiction (i.e., can choose which cases it wants to hear), the DCAs provide the final word on the vast majority of cases appealed in the State of Florida. Cases that are affirmed without comment by the district courts cannot be appealed to the Supreme Court, even as a request for discretionary review.

Cases involving the death penalty are heard directly and automatically by the Florida Supreme Court, bypassing the District Courts of Appeal.