A petition for a writ of certiorari, or request for the Supreme Court to consider their case on appeal and issue a writ of certiorari to the lower (usually appellate) court. A writ of certiorari is a court order requesting the official records for a specified case.

petition for a writ of certiorari

The formal request is called a Petition for a Writ of Certiorari.

The Court grants certiorari to the petitioner, and issues a writ of certiorari to the lower court, asking for the case files.

Most cases are appealed to the US Supreme Court by a petition for a writ of certiorari, which is a request that the justices accept review of the case and issue a writ of certiorari, or order to the lower courts to send all trial and appellate records to the Supreme Court. Review of an appeal is not a right; the justices grant certiorari at their discretion.

Appellate courts may also issue a writ of error, which is an order to release the trial record of an adjudicated case. This is most often sent from an intermediate appellate court to the court of original jurisdiction.

Petition for a writ of certiorari

For more information, see Related Questions, below.

"Cert" is short for "certiorari," which refers to the appeal (petition for a writ of certiorari) a party files with the Supreme Court requesting the justices review the case. If the justices decide against hearing the case, they deny the petition. This is usually abbreviated and referred to as "cert denied."