Тhe federal court system Реферат

В США существует единая федеральная система судов и самостоятельные судебные системы каждого из штатов, округа Колумбия и четырех федеральных территорий. Федеральные суды прежде всего рассматривают уголовные дела о преступлениях, предусмотренных федеральным законодательством, и гражданские дел по искам к федеральным властям и по спорам. По ряду вопросов компетенция федеральных судов и судов штатов совпадает как по уголовным, так и по гражданским делам. Основная часть уголовных и гражданских дел рассматривается судами штатов, их часть рассматривается федеральными судами. 

В федеральную систему судов входят: Верховный суд США, апелляционные и окружные суды, а также специальные суды. Всю систему федеральных судов возглавляет Верховный суд США, который одновременно занимает исключительно важное положение во всей структуре высших государственных учреждений наряду с Конгрессом и президентом США. 

Верховный суд США состоит из девяти судей, председатель которого назначается Президентом США, а члены суда утверждаются Сенатом. Верховный суд рассматривает по первой инстанции дела по спорам между двумя или более штатами, по искам, в которых одной из сторон являются послы иностранных государств, и некоторые другие. Основная его функция – рассмотрение жалоб на решения нижестоящих федеральных судов и судов штатов, а также просьб об отмене постановления любого суда, которым признается противоречащим Конституции США закон какого-либо штата или акт Конгресса США. Верховный суд вправе также разъяснить какой-либо вопрос права, возникший по гражданскому или уголовному делу, и дать по нему обязательное толкование. Верховный суд принимает к разбирательству дела по своему усмотрению, если признает их достаточно существенными и общезначимыми, что бывает относительно редко. 

Апелляционные суды были созданы в 1891 г. в качестве судов промежуточной юрисдикции между Верховным судом США и окружными судами. В настоящее время имеется 13 апелляционных судов: один в федеральном округе Колумбия, 2 - в каждом из апелляционных округов. 

Окружные или районные суды являются основным звеном федеральной судебной системы. Вся территория страны поделена на округа с учетом границ между штатами, так что в одном штате имеется от одного до четырех округов. Соответствующие окружные суды созданы также в четырех заморских территориях США. Уголовные дела и гражданские иски по большинству категорий слушаются с участием присяжных. 

При окружных судах функционируют федеральные магистраты. Они занимаются, в основном, подготовкой дел к слушанию и контролем за исполнением судебных решений. Магистраты вправе самостоятельно рассматривать уголовные дела по обвинению в малозначительных преступлениях, если те наказываются лишением свободы на срок до одного года и штрафом до 1 000 долларов. 

The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789 and amended only since then, is the supreme law of the United States. The Constitution established a republic under which the individual states retain considerable sovereignty and authority.

Nowadays, courts in the US have great power and are highly respected in the American system, because in the process of implementing the principle of separation of powers, the court has become responsible for making many important decisions on public issues.

Historians, political scientists, sociologists and lawyers have devoted a lot of work to the study of American statehood, but the potential of the strength of American political and legal institutions is outstanding.

The Constitution also established three separate branches of the U.S. Government—the legislative (Article I), executive (Article II), and judicial (Article III) branches. The constitutional system divides powers among these three branches of the federal government and establishes a system of “checks and balances.” Each branch is formally separate from the other two, and each has certain constitutional authority to check the actions of the other branches.

The framers of the Constitution considered an independent federal judiciary essential to ensure fairness and equal justice to all citizens of the United States. As a result, the federal judiciary is a separate, self-governing branch of the government. The Congress enacts the laws, the president and the many executive branch departments and agencies act on and enforce the laws, and the courts interpret the law. The courts play no active role in enforcing the laws—that is the role of the president and the executive branch departments and agencies. 

The courts interpret the law by issuing judgments on actual legal disputes brought before them by adversarial parties. Federal judges also interpret and issue rulings on the constitutionality of laws when parties to a dispute challenge a law’s constitutionality. The federal courts are often called the guardians of the Constitution, because court rulings protect the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.

The Constitution protects the independence and integrity of the judicial branch in two principal ways: 

First, federal judges appointed under Article III of the Constitution may serve for life and may only be removed from office through impeachment and conviction by Congress for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors”. 

Second, the Constitution provides that the compensation of Article III federal judges “shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office,” which means that neither the president nor Congress can reduce the salaries of most federal judges. 

Congress has four basic responsibilities under the Constitution that determine how the federal courts will operate: 

- the legislature authorizes the creation of all federal courts below the Supreme Court, defines the jurisdiction of the courts, and decides how many judges should act in each court.

- Congress approves the federal courts’ budget. The judiciary’s budget is a very small part of the entire federal budget. 

- through the confirmation process, the Senate determines which of the president’s judicial nominees become federal judges. 

- judges appointed under Article III of the U.S. Constitution may only be involuntarily removed from office after being impeached by the House of Representatives and convicted of treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors in a trial before the Senate.

According to the Constitution, the president nominates Article III constitutional judges to a lifetime appointment, approved by the Senate. The president usually consults senators or other elected officials concerning potential candidates for vacancies on the federal courts. 

The Department of Justice, which is responsible for prosecuting federal crimes and for representing the government in civil cases, is the most frequent litigator in the federal court system. 

Executive branch agencies also assist the judiciary with certain administrative operations. The U.S. Marshals Service provides security for federal courthouses and judges, and the General Services Administration builds and maintains federal courthouses. Military courts, specialized tribunals and some executive agencies adjudicate disputes in the first instance involving specific federal laws and benefits programs. The jurisdiction of these bodies is limited. Administrative law judges and non-judiciary tribunals are limited to resolving disputes on questions arising from matters such as the tax laws; patent and copyright laws; labor laws; social security statutes and regulations; approval of radio and TV licenses; and the like. Appeals of final decisions in these cases typically may be taken to the Article III courts.

The federal judicial process is open to the public. Federal courthouses are designed to provide public access to court proceedings and inspire respect for the tradition and purpose of the American judicial process. A citizen who wishes to observe a court session may go to a federal courthouse, check the court calendar, which is posted on a bulletin board or electronic kiosk, and watch almost any proceeding. Anyone may review a case file using an electronic access terminal at the clerk of court’s office. Court schedules, dockets, judgments, opinions, and pleadings are also available to the public in electronic form through the internet. Limited radio or television coverage of arguments before the appellate courts is available in some federal courts, but, unlike most state courts, the federal courts do not permit broadcast coverage of most trials. 

The USA has its own federal court system and the independent judicial systems of each of states and the District of Columbia as well, and four federal territories. The federal courts deal with: 

• criminal cases;

• civil cases.

The federal court system of the USA includes: 

• district courts (the trial court), 

• circuit courts or appellate courts which are the first level of appeal, 

• the Supreme Court of the United States, the final level of appeal in the federal system. 

There are 94 district courts, 13 circuit courts, and one Supreme Court throughout the country.

Courts in the federal system work differently in many ways than state courts. The primary difference for civil cases (as opposed to criminal cases) is the types of cases that can be heard in the federal system. 

District Courts

The district courts are the general trial courts of the federal court system. Each district court has at least one United States District Judge, appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for a life term. District courts handle trials within the federal court system – both civil and criminal. The districts are the same as those for the U.S. Attorneys, and the U.S. Attorney is the primary prosecutor for the federal government in his or her respective area.

District court judges are responsible for managing the court and supervising the court’s employees. They are able to continue to serve so long as they maintain “good behavior,” and they can be impeached and removed by Congress. There are over 670 district court judges nationwide.

Some tasks of the district court are given to federal magistrate judges. Magistrates are appointed by the district court by a majority vote of the judges and serve for a term of eight years if full-time and four years if part-time, but they can be reappointed after completion of their term. In criminal matters, magistrate judges may oversee certain cases, issue search warrants and arrest warrants, conduct initial hearings, set bail, decide certain motions (such as a motion to suppress evidence), and other similar actions. In civil cases, magistrates often handle a variety of issues such as pre-trial motions and discovery.

Federal trial courts have also been established for a few subject-specific areas. Each federal district also has a bankruptcy court for those proceedings. Additionally, some courts have nationwide jurisdiction for issues such as tax (United States Tax Court), claims against the federal government (United States Court of Federal Claims), and international trade (United States Court of International Trade).

Although federal courts are located in every state, they are not the only forum available to litigants. The great majority of legal disputes in American courts are addressed in the separate state or local court systems. Most of the state or local court systems have trial courts of general jurisdiction, intermediate appellate courts, and a supreme court. They may also have specialized lower level courts, county courts, municipal courts, small claims courts, or justices of the peace to handle minor matters. 

The state courts have jurisdiction over a wider variety of disputes than the federal courts. State courts, for example, have jurisdiction over virtually all divorce and child custody matters, probate and inheritance issues, real estate questions, and juvenile matters. Most criminal cases, contract disputes, traffic violations, and personal injury cases are also resolved in the state courts. 

Federal courts decide cases that involve the U.S. government or its officials, the U.S. Constitution or federal laws, or controversies between states or between the United States and foreign governments. A case also may be filed in federal court if the litigants are citizens of different states or the dispute arises between citizens of the United States and those of another country.

 In the initial stages of any lawsuit the plaintiff must assert the legal basis for the court’s jurisdiction over the case and the court must make an independent determination that it has jurisdiction to address the case. If a case is filed initially in a federal court, but the court determines that it lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate, the case must be dismissed. Under certain circumstances, a case that was improperly filed in federal court may be “remanded” to a state court that has jurisdiction to hear the case. Conversely, a case that was filed in a state court may, if certain conditions are met, be “removed” to a federal court. 

The federal and state courts are required to extend “full faith and credit” to each other’s respective judgments. But under the Supremacy Clause of the Constitution, a federal law preempts any conflicting state law.

The primary criterion for appointment to a federal judgeship is a person’s total career and academic achievements. No examinations are administered to judicial candidates. A person seeking a judgeship is required to complete a lengthy set of forms that set forth in detail his or her personal qualifications and career accomplishments, including such matters as academic background, job experiences, public writings, intellectual pursuits, legal cases handled, and outside activities. Candidates also are subject to extensive interviews, background investigations, and follow-up questioning prior to their nomination.

Politics may be an important factor in the appointment of Article III judges. Nominees are normally selected by the president from a list of candidates provided by senators or other office holders within the state in which the appointment is to be made. Article III judges are nominated by the president, usually from among the ranks of prominent practicing lawyers, lower federal court judges, state court judges, or law professors who reside within the district or circuit where the court sits. The president’s nominee must appear in person at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate votes to confirm each judge.

Each federal judge is appointed to fill a specified, authorized judgeship in a particular district or circuit. Judges have no authority to hear cases in another federal jurisdiction unless they are formally designated and assigned to the other court as a visiting judge. Courts seek assistance from visiting judges to manage temporary increases in caseloads, cases that present a conflict of interest for local judges, or backlogs that result from unfilled judicial vacancies.

The judicial branch includes U.S. Court of Federal Claims judges, bankruptcy judges, and magistrate judges who exercise specific authorities delegated to them by Congress or assigned to them by the district courts.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims judges are appointed for terms of 15 years by the president, subject to confirmation by the Senate, and they can be removed from office for cause by a majority vote of the judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Bankruptcy judges and magistrate judges are judicial officers of the district courts, appointed by the courts of appeals and the district courts, respectively. The courts select bankruptcy and magistrate judges after evaluating applicants with the assistance of merit selection panels composed of local lawyers and other citizens.

Bankruptcy judges serve 14-year terms, while magistrate judges are appointed for 8-year terms. Before reappointing a bankruptcy or magistrate judge, the court must publish a public notice seeking comments on the incumbent’s performance. The appointing court then convenes a panel to consider public comments and make a merit based recommendation on whether the incumbent should be reappointed. During their term of service, bankruptcy and magistrate judges may also be removed for cause by a majority of the judges of the appointing court.

In this paper, an overview was conducted to examine the judicial system of the United States of America. 

American court system presents the pyramidal structure, at the base of which here are 90 federal district courts, the medial parts – the appellate courts which are 12, and at the top of this pyramid the US Supreme Court is situated. 

Congress has made numerous changes to the federal judicial system throughout the years, but the present-day structure of the system is quite clear-cut today.

Thus, we see that the US judicial system is quite complex, compared to ours and it can be called a "judicial state". As it was noted above, courts in the United States have great power and are highly respected in the American system. Even within the boundaries of precedents and legal disputes and considering the reluctance of courts to be involved in certain areas of politics, federal courts exert a tremendous influence on US legislation and public policy. This is mainly due to judicial consideration of cases involving unlawful actions of state and federal governments, administrative departments, legal entities, government officials.

An important feature of the US judicial system is a greater scope for judicial discretion. In the United States, any court decision can become law, at least during the temporary validity of this decision. In fact, in the United States, the law is what the judge claims.