In common law jurisdictions, a court of record is a court that keeps permanent records of its proceedings. Judgments of a trial court of record are normally subject to appellate review. In many jurisdictions, all courts are courts of record. In many jurisdictions, courts that have the power to fine or imprison must be courts of record.

A court not of record is an inferior tribunal, such as a justice's court presided over by a justice of the peace, that does not keep systematic records and is often not regarded as having an identity distinct from that of its presiding magistrate. This is also the case of many administrative tribunals that make or review governmental administrative decisions such as government benefit determinations. In many jurisdictions, a party to a proceeding in a court not of record has a right to demand a new trial, called a "trial de novo", in a court of record. In other jurisdictions this right has been limited or taken away so to consolidate the power of these inferior bodies, but it is always possible to seek judicial review of the judgement of an inferior tribunal through the prerogative writs or through other concepts such as the patently unreasonable standard as applied in Canadian administrative review.

A trial court of record creates the record of the case for appellate review. This may include the transcript, audio or videotape of any and all hearings, appearances, arguments of motions, and the trial transcript. The trial is held before a trier of fact and a trier of law based upon the rules of evidence following civil or criminal procedure, usually the jury is the trier of fact and the judge trier of law, but in some cases the judge may be both trier of fact and trier of law, depending on the jurisdiction and the type of case. (See jury.) Exhibits introduced in evidence may also be maintained in the court record, at least for a certain period of time after the case has been tried, after which the evidence may be returned to the parties or destroyed.