# court (legal)

a building where people come for a legal process under law

- Computed level: L17 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: common  ·  Arena: court

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [building](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-building.structure), [people](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-people.social), [law](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-law.rule), [process](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-process.general), [come](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-come.arrive), [legal](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-legal.law)

**Through:** the building hosts people who arrive to follow a process that applies law within a legal status

**Novel properties:**
- venue for legal proceedings
- structured legal access
- institutional authority

## Examples
- The Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015. *(institutions)*
- In 2023, the International Court of Justice held hearings on Namibia's claim to Walvis Bay. *(geopolitics)*
- Helsinki District Court processed 1,247 criminal cases in 2022, per Finnish judiciary reports. *(law)*

---
*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-court.legal*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-court.legal.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*