The Kerala High Court is a constitutional institution and the apex judicial body for the State of Kerala and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, with its principal seat in Kochi. It was established on November 1, 1956, the same day the State of Kerala was formed under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. This formation solved the problem of unifying the judicial administration of the region, which previously comprised the High Court of Travancore-Cochin and the Malabar district under the Madras High Court. The court's jurisdiction, powers, and functions are statutorily defined by the Kerala High Court Act, 1958.
The court functions as a superior court, drawing its writ jurisdiction from Article 226 of the Constitution of India, which allows it to issue writs like habeas corpus and mandamus for the enforcement of Fundamental Rights and other legal rights. Under Article 227, it exercises the power of superintendence over all subordinate courts and tribunals within its territorial limits. Furthermore, it is a "Court of Record" under Article 215, meaning its judgments are recorded and serve as binding precedents for subordinate courts. The court connects directly to the Supreme Court of India, where its decisions can be appealed.
A recent development is that the court's name remains the High Court of Kerala despite the state's official name change to 'Keralam', as its nomenclature is statutorily fixed by the Kerala High Court Act, 1958. The court also recently expanded the scope of Section 100 of the Patents Act, 1970, to empower the government to use patented inventions for public health purposes, linking this power to the constitutional duty under Article 47 and the right to life under Article 21. The court's internal rules were also recently amended with the Rules of the High Court of Kerala (Second Amendment), 2026.