District court (Arab Union)

In the Union of Arab Republics (UAR; informally the Arab Union), the court of first instance with original jurisdiction to hear non-federal civil and criminal trials is the district court (Arabic: محكمة المنطقة maḥkamat al-minṭaqah). Each of the 20 republics (federated states) of the Arab Union is divided into multiple judicial districts, each of which is assigned a single district court. In rare circumstances, trials which would otherwise be heard in a district court are instead initially held in the republic's respective supreme court if deemed serious enough or of enough political or social relevance; otherwise, republican supreme courts only hear trials which affect the republic as a whole or the republic's government or other institution, as well as appeals of verdicts made by the republican appellate court (which itself hears appeals of district court verdicts).

Each district court is administered by a senior justice, who oversees between three and ten other puisne justices (depending on population of the judicial district). Most district courts physically consist of a single courthouse capable of hearing at least two trials at a time, though judicial districts with larger populations commonly maintain a district court system spread across two or more courthouses, with the "central court" being the courthouse hosting the judicial district's senior justice. The largest district court is the Cairo District Court, which serves the over 10 million citizens of the Cairo Judicial District and consists of eleven separate courthouse facilities (including the Cairo Central Court).