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Amicus curiæ ( Latin for friend of the court; plural amici curiæ) briefs are legal documents filed by non- litigants in appellate court cases, which include additional information or arguments that those outside parties wish to have considered in that particular case. Appellate cases are otherwise limited to the factual record and arguments coming from the lower court case under appeal, and so amicus curiæ briefs are a way to keep the possibly broad legal impact of court decisions from depending solely on the parties directly involved in the case. Non-profit legal advocacy organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union frequently submit amicus curiæ briefs to advocate for or against a particular legal change or interpretation.If a case may have effects on other parties, then they may file amicus curiæ briefs. For example, if a decision will affect an entire industry, even though it is brought up against only one company, other companies may file briefs as amici curiæ. Similarly, if a law in one state is under evaluation, and another state has a law that would be affected by the decision, then this other state may file a brief as an amicus curiæ.
Occasionally, however, amicus curiæ are not opinions on the argument or on one part of the argument, but simply an academic perspective. For example, if the law gives deference to a history of legislation of a certain topic, a historian may choose to evaluate the claim using his expertise. An economist, statistician, or sociologist may choose to do the same.
The court has discretion to grant or deny permission of parties to file briefs as amicus curiæ as it wishes. Generally, cases that are very controversial will attract a number of such briefs.
Legal documents
