Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-4 – Family courts, circuits
Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-4
- Court: means one of the family courts as herein established. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
- Judge: means judge of the family court. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Senior judge: means the judge so designated, as provided in this chapter. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-2
In the first circuit any judge or judges so designated by the chief justice of the supreme court shall be the judge or judges of the family court of the first circuit. The several judges of the second, third, and fifth circuits, and of any other circuits hereafter created by the legislature, shall, when exercising jurisdiction under this chapter, be judges of the family courts of their respective circuits. In any circuit in which more than one judge is authorized to exercise jurisdiction as judge of the family court, the chief justice of the supreme court shall designate one of the judges as senior judge.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to limit the jurisdiction and authority of any circuit judge, designated as judge of a family court, to matters within the scope of this chapter.