合议制度是我国民事诉讼法的基本法律制度。指由三个或三个以上 (须是单数) 的审判人员组成合议庭，对民事案件进行审判的制度。按照民事诉讼法的规定，人民法院审理第一审民事案件，由审判员、陪审员共同组成合议庭或者由审判员组成合议庭进行审理。人民法院审理第二审民事案件，由审判员组成合议庭进行审理。发回重审的民事案件，由原审人民法院重新组成合议庭来进行审理。依照法律规定，简单民事案件可以由审判员一人进行独任审理。

在翻译时，“合议庭”较为常见，国内的官方文件中多将其译为“collegiate bench”。

In the trial of the case by the time, seriously implement the public hearing, the jury, the collegiate bench, defense, appeal system and principles, you can fully understand the case, prevent and reduce subjective errors to ensure that the case correctly and quickly, and everything to attend court civil legal education.

在审理案件的时候，认真地贯彻公开审理、陪审、合议、辩护、上诉等项制度和原则，就可以全面地弄清案情，防止、减少主观臆断的错误，保证案件的正确、迅速处理，并对一切出席法庭的公民进行法制教育。

In civil cases of second instance in the people's court, justice is administered by a collegiate bench made up of judges.

人民法院审理第二审民事案件，由审判员组成合议庭。

但英美法中也有一个词与之意思相似，full court。维基百科中对其的释义如下：A Full Court (less formally, full bench) is a court of law with a greater than normal number of judges. For a court which is usually presided over by one judge, a Full Court has three or more judges; for a court which, like many appellate courts, normally sits as a bench of three judges, a Full Court has a bench of five (or more) judges.

上述英文释义大概指的是full court指的是法官人数超过正常人数的法庭，比如说对通常只有一名法官的法庭而言，法官人数可以为三人或更多；对通常就有三名法官的法庭而言，法官人数可以为五人或更多。

因此，除了“collegiate bench”之外，“合议庭”还可以译为“full court”。

相应的，“合议制”也可以译为“collegiate bench system”或“full court system”，此外，北京大学法学百科全书中的民事诉讼法学辞条分类双语目录，收录的对于“合议制度”的英文翻译为“principle of panel hearing”。