"Court of record" es una expresión no demasiado usual del "Common Law" anglosajón, con la que se alude a un tribunal que lleva un registro escrito de sus expedientes. Esta especificación es innecesaria en la tradición jurídica continental, en la que todo tribunal ha de dejar constancia escrita de sus actuaciones. Enrique Alcaraz y Brian Hughes, en la entrada "court of record" de su Diccionario de términos jurídicos, proponen la traducción: «tribunal ordinario». En la práctica, el uso del término court of record viene a indicar que se trata de un tribunal facultado para imponer sanciones penales de diversa índole; de ahí la propuesta del término genérico «tribunal ordinario» en español.


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Note added at 2 días11 horas (2009-01-26 10:22:10 GMT)
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En inglés:
In common law jurisdictions, a court of record is a court that keeps permanent records of its proceedings. Judgments of a trial court of record are normally subject to appellate review. In many jurisdictions, all courts are courts of record. In many jurisdictions, courts that have the power to fine or imprison must be courts of record.In almost all jurisdictions, a court of record will have a court clerk whose primary duty is to maintain the permanent records. Traditionally, a court of record was required to have its own unique seal, which was used to authenticate its judgments and copies of its records.

A court not of record is an inferior tribunal, such as a justice court presided over by a Justice of the Peace, that does not keep systematic records and is often not regarded as having an identity distinct from that of its presiding magistrate. This is also the case of many administrative tribunals that make or review governmental administrative decisions such as government benefit determinations.