Maryland State Archives - Guide to Government Records

COURT OF APPEALS

The Court of Appeals hears cases almost exclusively by way of certiorari (i.e., on review). The court may review a case decided by the Court of Special Appeals or may bring up for review cases filed in that court before they are decided there. The Court of Appeals also may review certain decisions rendered by the circuit court if that court acted in an appellate capacity with respect to an appeal from the District Court. The court may adopt rules of judicial administration, practice, and procedure which have the force of law. It also reviews recommendations of the Board of Law Examiners and conducts disciplinary proceedings involving members of the bench and bar. The court also supervises the Attorney Grievance Commission and admits persons to the practice of law (Code Courts and Judical Proceedings Article, secs. 12-301 through 12-307).

The Court of Appeals was established in 1694 by a commission sent with royal governor Francis Nicholson. Prior to 1681, the governor and members of Council, who constituted the upper house of the Assembly, exercised appellate jurisdiction much as the House of Lords in England. Appeals were not uncommon, despite the fact that the governor and Council also sat as the judges of the Provincial Court where the appealed cases originated. This redundancy and questions about the legal right of the upper house of the Assembly to hear appeals became such an issue that no appeals were heard between 1681 and 1694. Governor Nicholson's commission reestablished the upper house of the Assembly, now sitting as the Court of Appeals as the colony's highest appellate court. To blunt criticism of their dual judicial roles, the practice developed where a Council member would not sit on the Court of Appeals when it heard a case in which he had sat as trial judge.

The last colonial court of appeals sat in May 1776. The Constitutional Convention later that year provided for a Court of Appeals to hear cases from the General, Chancery, and Admiralty courts. The first Assembly to meet after the adoption of the state constitution decreed that the tribunal would have five appointed judges who could hold no other office. The Court of Appeals was reorganized after the abolition of the General Court in 1805. The judges were elected by the voters from six judicial districts. The court assumed the appellate jurisdiction of the former General Court, and like it, held sessions on both the Eastern and Western shores.

The Constitutional Convention of 1851, reorganized the court again. Thereafter, it was to sit only in Annapolis, and the judges were to be specially elected, one from each of four new judicial districts. New provisions required the court to issue and publish opinions on every case it decided. The second Constitutional Convention of the nineteenth century, in 1864, left the court unchanged except for an increase in the number of justices to five. The 1867 Constitutional Convention made more radical changes in the court. The number of justices was increased to eight with a judge from each of the seven county circuits and one from Baltimore City for appellate work only. The court was not reorganized again until 1943, when the number of judges was reduced to five, one elected from each of three appellate districts and two from Baltimore City. In 1960, the court was expanded to seven judges, who are appointed by the governor and hold office until the next general election when the voters decide whether or not to retain them. The chief judge is selected by the governor.

In 1806 the Court of Appeals took over from the General Courts the maintenance and indexing of land record abstracts and the recording of land records filed directly. The latter activity ceased by 1826. The abstract functions, done as a security measure in case the local records were lost or destroyed, were transferred to the Land Office in 1874.

How to Find Opinions of the Maryland Court of Appeals

First determine if you need a copy of the opinion as published or the original itself.

Published Opinions

Note that only opinions of significance are reported, that is, published. Unreported opinions are found in COURT OF APPEALS (Opinions, Unreported) MSA S392.

Maryland Court of Appeals opinions are published in a series called Maryland Reports. From 1851 to present, references to published opinions in Maryland Reports are cited in a standard format, as in the following example:

12 Md. 514, i.e., volume 12 of Maryland Reports, page 514.

The earliest volumes of Maryland Reports, those prior to 1851, are cited in a different way. These volumes are named after their various publishers, and are sometimes referred to as nominatives. The legal citation, whose format is shown below in parentheses, comes from this naming convention.

Nominatives
Harris and McHenry (H. & McH.) 1770 - 1774, 1780 - 1799, 4 vols.
Harris and Johnson (H. & J.) 1800 - 1826, 7 vols.
Harris and Gill (H. & G.) 1826 - 1829, 2 vols.
Gill and Johnson (G. & J.) 1829 - 1842, 12 vols.
Gill (Gill) 1843 - 1851, 9 vols.

Original Opinions

Original opinions are referenced by case number. For opinions from the earliest days of the Court (1695 to the 1933 October term), the case number can be found in one of the Court dockets. Note that in the 19th century and earlier, a new case number is assigned every time the case is redocketed, i.e., every time the case carries over to a new term of the Court. To find the original opinion, determine the number assigned during the term when the case was decided. Generally this will be the last term in which the case was docketed.

For cases from the October 1927 term forward, get the case number from the published opinion in Maryland Reports. The first volume of Maryland Reports giving case numbers is volume 154, for years 1927-28. The case number is included in the header information.

If you are having difficulty locating an opinion, make sure that you have correctly identified the case. Is the following information consistent: citation, case number, and names of the parties? Also, make sure that the request is for a Court of Appeals case and not a Court of Special Appeals case. Court of Special Appeals opinions are published in Maryland Appellate Reports and are cited as Md. App.

Helpful Docket and Opinion Series

DOCKETS
COURT OF APPEALS (Docket) 1695-1933 MSA S412
COURT OF APPEALS (Docket, Eastern Shore) 1807-1851 MSA S413
COURT OF APPEALS (Docket, Western Shore) 1806-1851 MSA S414

OPINIONS:
COURT OF APPEALS (Opinions) 1851-1986 S393 1851 - 1986 MSA S393
COURT OF APPEALS (Opinions) 1987-2000 MSA T1217
COURT OF APPEALS (Opinions, Eastern Shore) 1820-1851 MSA S395
COURT OF APPEALS (Opinions, Western Shore) 1810-1851 MSA S394

Use these links for information on Court of Appeals Chief Judges, Judges, and Clerks
See also How to Find Opinions of the Maryland Court of Appeals