What do appellate courts primarily focus on?

Appellate courts primarily focus on reviewing lower court decisions, which involves examining the legal reasoning and procedures followed in those cases. Their role is not to hear new evidence or retry cases but to assess whether the law was applied correctly in earlier proceedings and if any legal errors occurred that warrant a reversal or modification of the decision. This review process is essential for maintaining the integrity of the legal system, ensuring that justice is consistently administered across cases.

The other choices reflect different functions of the judicial system. Hearing new cases for the first time is a function of trial courts, where initial evidence and testimonies are presented and evaluated. Enforcing the laws is primarily the responsibility of law enforcement agencies and trial courts, which deal with the application of legal principles in practice. Determining guilt or innocence also occurs within trial courts, where jurors or judges evaluate evidence presented during the trial to reach a verdict. Thus, the focus of appellate courts distinctly lies in the assessment of the prior rulings made by lower courts.