If a party loses before a circuit panel, it may appeal for a rehearing en banc.
A majority of the active circuit judges must agree to hear or rehear a case en banc.
The Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure state that en banc proceedings are disfavored but may be ordered to maintain uniformity of decisions within the circuit or if the issue is exceptionally important (Fed.
The FISA Court sat en banc for the first time in 2017 in a case concerning bulk data collection.
This has been described as sitting en banc by Lady Hale, then President of the Supreme Court.
Eleven judges may sit on a panel: As of October 2019[update], only two cases have been heard by the maximum panel of 11 justices, both arising out of political events relating to Brexit: R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union ("Miller I"),[15] which was heard by all 11 serving justices (there was one judicial vacancy at the time) and decided by an 8–3 majority, and R (Miller) v The Prime Minister and Cherry v Advocate General for Scotland ("Miller II"), which was heard by 11 of the 12 serving justices (Lord Briggs did not sit) and decided unanimously.
The Supreme Court of Japan, which has a total of fifteen justices, ordinarily hears cases in panels of five judges, but is required to hear cases en banc (by the "Grand Bench", 大法廷 daihōtei) when ruling on most constitutional issues, when overturning a previous decision of the Supreme Court, when the five-judge panel is unable to reach a decision, and in other limited cases.