Tribunal of first instance (Belgium)

The tribunals of first instance are Belgium's primary trial courts of general jurisdiction, handling civil cases, criminal cases and cases falling under juvenile law and family law, as well as appeals from lower courts. Thirteen such tribunals, with 27 seats between them, are organized into civil, correctional, family and juvenile sections, and Brussels maintains two separate tribunals, one Dutch-speaking and one French-speaking, to reflect the country's linguistic divide; their decisions can be appealed to the courts of appeal, with further appeal possible to the Court of Cassation. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/