Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 571-3

  • 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.

The family courts shall be divisions of the circuit courts of the State and shall not be deemed to be other courts as that term is used in the State Constitution. A family court shall be held at the courthouse in each circuit, or other duly designated place, by the judge or judges of the respective family courts as herein defined. The chief justice of the supreme court may temporarily assign a family court judge to preside in another circuit when the urgency of one or more cases requires the chief justice to do so. In any case in which it has jurisdiction the court shall exercise general equity powers as authorized by law.