A Puisne Justice or Puisne Judge (pronounced puny, and derived from the obsolete French puisné, modern French puîné, "junior") is the title for a regular member of a Court. This is distinguished from the head of the Court who is known as the Chief Justice or Chief Judge. The term is used almost exclusively in common law jurisdictions such as England, Australia, Canada, and formerly in Hong Kong. Generally, the term is only used in relation to judges of a superior court, e.g. the Supreme Court or the High Court of a jurisdiction. The equivalent term in the United States is Associate Justice.
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