JUSTICE AND THE JUDICIAL PROCESS

According to Article III of the Constitution “the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish”. Congress has established over 100 federal courts throughout the country, final authority resting in the United States Supreme Court.

The federal courts are organized like a pyramid with three tiers.

The apex of the pyramid, the highest tribunal of the United States, is the Supreme Court. It is composed of a Chief Justice and eight associate justices, all of whom are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for life terms.

The Supreme Court has both original and appellate jurisdiction. This means that some cases start or originate in the Supreme Court, while others get there by way of appeal from lower federal and state courts. Under the Constitution the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in two types of cases: those affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls; and those in which states are parties. For example, the Supreme Court settled a border dispute between Texas and Oklahoma by determining which bank of the Red River formed the boundary between the two states.

All cases that do not originate in the Supreme Court come to it by way of appeal. The decision of the Supreme Court cannot be appealed to any other court. Neither the President nor Congress can change its decision.

Immediately below the Supreme Court stand 12 Courts of Appeals created to facilitate the disposition of cases by the Supreme Court. They operate in 12 circuits (regions), into which the nation and the territories (of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Panama Canal Zone) have been divided. The US Courts of Appeals have between three to fifteen judges, depending upon the number of cases heard in the circuit. But each case is heard by a three-judge panel (three judges sitting together on the bench). Members of these courts are appointed for life by the President with the Senate’s approval.

The courts of appeals have no original jurisdiction; they are exclusively appellate courts. A court of appeals accepts the facts sent to it by the lower courts. It does not receive additional facts. Its work is to decide on disputed questions of law. The appellate court may not hear new evidence, but may return the case to the lower court for this purpose. The parties may appeal the decision on the ground that the court made an error in concluding the trial, or on the ground that the law is unconstitutional.

At the bottom of the federal judicial pyramid are 95 District Courts which are located in 95 judicial districts into which the fifty states, the District of Columbia and the territories are divided. Each state has at least one federal district court, a few have as many as four. The judges of the district courts are appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for life terms.

The district courts have original jurisdiction (courts of first instance or trial courts) and are the only federal courts where trials are held, witnesses are called and juries are used.

Outside the three layer federal system and in addition to it, Congress has established tribunals having specialized jurisdiction (Court of Claims, Customs Court, Tax Court, Court of Customs and Patent Appeals) and administrative or regulatory agencies (Patent Office, Federal Trade Commission, Interstate Commerce Commission) with practically judicial powers, through which the government regulates certain kinds of business.

3. SCANNING READING. Scan the text to find the terms which correspond to the following descriptions.

region; to handle (a case); judges; lower (minor); system of the courts; level (layer); litigation; court; of original jurisdiction; dispute; litigant; consists of;

5.5 Fill in the correct preposition from the list where necessary.