Appellate review is the general term for the process by which courts with appellate jurisdiction take jurisdiction of matters decided by lower courts, it is distinguished from judicial review in which the court has an overriding constitutional or statutory right to determine if a lower court or administrative decision is defective for jurisdictional or other reasons (which may vary by jurisdiction).

In most jurisdictions the normal and preferred way of seeking appellate review is by filing an appeal of the final judgment or appeallable interim Court order in a case such as the denial of a request for an interim injunction which are often appeallable as of right.

In Anglo=American common law legal system courts, appellate review of lower court decisions may also be obtained by filing a petition for review by prerogative writ in certain cases. There is no corresponding right to a writ in any pure or continental civil law legal systemss, though some mixed system such as Quebec recognize these prerogative writs.

See also: Appellate court, Court of Appeals, Reversible error, Writ of Certiorari, Writ of habeas corpus, Writ of mandamus.