What is the difference between an inferior court and a superior court? Which of the following is correct? a) An inferior court hears only civil matters whereas a superior court is able to hear criminal matters as well as civil matters. b) Inferior courts do not follow the normal adversarial processes; they are more like tribunals, whereas superior courts have an adversarial approach to the law. c) Superior courts are the federal courts; all state courts are inferior to those courts in the federal hierarchy. d) A superior court can hear any matter and any appeal from a court lower in the hierarchy. Superior courts are courts of record, unlike inferior courts.