This Maryland Legal Glossary Index is designed to help Maryland Law Blog readers navigate complex legal terminology found in Maryland appellate court decisions.
Click on a letter below.
A
Acquiescence (Legal Acquiescence)
Definition:
The act of implicitly accepting a court ruling or legal decision by failing to object or by affirmatively agreeing to it. Under Maryland law, a party that acquiesces to a trial court’s ruling typically waives the right to challenge that ruling on appeal.
Case Reference:
In Bhairava v. State (2025), the Appellate Court of Maryland cited Green v. State, 127 Md. App. 758 (1999) to hold that a defendant who agrees to a trial date waives the right to appeal a denied postponement request.
Appellate Court of Maryland
The Appellate Court of Maryland is the intermediate appellate court in the Maryland judicial system.
Formerly known as the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland until a 2022 constitutional amendment, the Appellate Court of Maryland generally has exclusive initial appellate jurisdiction over any reviewable judgment, decree, order, or other action of a circuit court or an orphans’ court, except for cases in which a sentence of death has been imposed (which fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Maryland). Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 12-308.
The Appellate Court of Maryland consists of fifteen judges, with at least one judge from each of the state’s seven appellate judicial circuits, and eight judges appointed at large. Md. Const., Art. IV, §14A.
Judges are appointed by the Governor and are subject to a retention election at the next general election occurring at least one year after their appointment, and subsequently every ten years.
Appeals are typically heard by panels of three judges.
Cases are generally decided on the record made in the lower court, with the Court reviewing for errors of law and clearly erroneous findings of fact.
Its reported decisions are binding precedent on the Circuit Courts and District Court of Maryland, but are subject to review by the Supreme Court of Maryland upon the granting of a writ of certiorari. See also Maryland Supreme Court; Certiorari; Intermediate Appellate Court.
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M
Maryland Supreme Court
The highest court in the Maryland judicial system and the court of last resort in the state.
Formerly known as the Court of Appeals of Maryland until a 2022 constitutional amendment, the Supreme Court of Maryland consists of seven justices, one from each of the state’s seven appellate judicial circuits.
Justices are appointed by the governor and are subject to a retention election at the next general election occurring at least one year after their appointment, and subsequently every ten years.
- The Maryland Supreme Court has exclusive jurisdiction over appeals in cases where a sentence of death has been imposed. Md. Const., Art. IV, § 14.
- The Court has discretionary appellate jurisdiction, primarily exercised through the granting of writs of certiorari, to review decisions of the Appellate Court of Maryland, and in limited circumstances, directly from the Circuit Courts. Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. §§ 12-201, 12-305.
- The Court also has original jurisdiction over certain matters, including legislative redistricting and attorney discipline.
- The Supreme Court of Maryland is responsible for promulgating rules of practice and procedure for the Maryland courts. Its reported decisions are binding precedent on all other Maryland courts.
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P
Per Curium Decision
A per curium judicial opinion issued in the name of the court as a whole rather than authored or signed by an individual Maryland appellate judge.
[Latin “by the court”]
In Maryland appellate practice, as in other jurisdictions, per curiam opinions typically address issues that are either well-settled by precedent or unanimously agreed upon by the panel or court, making individual authorship unnecessary. These decisions often (though not always) tend to be shorter and more straightforward than signed opinions.
A key characteristic of per curiam decisions in Maryland practice is that they carry the same precedential weight as authored opinions when published as reported decisions.
However, when issued as unreported decisions under Maryland Rule 1-104, they serve only as persuasive authority and cannot be cited as precedent except in related cases.