Full Court

A Full Court (less formally, full bench) refers to a court of law consisting of a greater-than-normal number of judges. Thus, in relation to a court usually presided over by a single judge, a Full Court would comprise a bench of three (or more) judges; for a court which, like many appellate courts, normally comprises three judges, a Full Court of that court would involve a bench of five (or more) judges. The expression originated in England but seems largely to have fallen into disuse there, but it is still used in Scotland, such as in the Court of Criminal Appeal, and in many other Commonwealth jurisdictions, such as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, etc. Although possible, a Full Court typically does not involve the participation of all the existing judges of the court (a practice known in the United States as the court sitting en banc).