Master (judiciary)

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A master is a judge of limited jurisdiction in the superior courts of England and Wales and in numerous other jurisdictions based on the common law tradition. A master's jurisdiction is generally confined to civil proceedings and is a subset of that of a superior court judge or justice. Masters are typically involved in hearing specialized types of trials, case management, and in some jurisdictions dispute resolution or adjudication of specific issues referred by judges.

Besides the courts of England and Wales, masters may be found in the Republic of Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, several Caribbean countries and a number of Canadian provinces. Several state courts in the United States utilize masters or similar officers and also make extensive use of special masters. In some jurisdictions such as the Federal Court in Canada the office of Prothonotary is similar to that of the master.

In some countries, the office of master has been renamed to Associate Judge. To date, this has occurred in several Australian States, in New Zealand and in the Canadian province of Ontario.