EN BANC
[Latin, French. In the bench.] Full bench. Refers
to a session where the entire membership of the
court will participate in the decision rather than
the regular quorum. In other countries, it is com-
mon for a court to have more members than are usually necessary to hear an appeal. In the United States, the Circuit Courts of Appeal usually sit in
panels of judges but for important cases may
expand the bench to a larger number, when the
judges are said to be sitting en banc. Similarly,
only one of the judges of the U.S. TAX COURT will
typically hear and decide on a tax controversy.
However, when the issues involved are unusually
novel or of wide impact, the case will be heard and
