The district and town courts of Russia (Russian: районный суд or Russian: городской суд; also called or courts) are primarily courts of first instance in the judiciary of Russia but sometimes hear appeals from magistrates. They are formed in or areas (Russian: районах), urban areas (Russian: районах в городах), and cities (Russian: городах). Decisions of the court are appealed to the regional court.
As courts of first instance, they handle criminal cases where imprisonment is for more than 3 years, and consist of 1 judge and a jury where required. As courts of appeal from decisions of the magistrates consisting of 1 justice of the peace, they consist of 1 judge and retry the case.
They were called People's Courts until 1996.