Part 2. The us justice system

A

Dear colleagues, let me open our today’s meeting. As you know, we’re going to speak about the US judicial system. We have four speakers, so the agenda is as follows: first, B is making a general overview of the system, then C is going to speak about the federal courts, afterwards comes the issue of state courts delivered by D and E. Are there any objections? Any comments? Good. According to the procedure you can ask your questions and give comments and additions after the speaker has completed the speech….

C

Excuse my interrupting you, but the procedure for this kind of meeting allows the audience to interfere with the questions.

A.

All right. Does everybody agree? So, we proceed and the floor is given to B.

B.

Thank you. As you may know, the judiciary, or judicial system, is the system of courts whose function is to interpret and apply the law in the name of the state. It also resolves disputes. In fact, judiciary does not legislate or enforce law thus the separation of powers is implemented.

F

Sorry, can I say a word? You say judiciary does not legislate, but common law judges create laws that become precedents.

B

You are right. However, in a broad sense, as a branch of power of any nation, it has the major responsibility – apply law and administer justice. Now, the courts. The system usually includes three tiers – lower courts (these may be trial courts or have other names), appellate courts and supreme courts. The US court system is not that simple yet. Actually, this is quite a unique branch because it has two separate systems – federal and state.

G

Sorry, I don’t quite follow you. You say “two” systems but as far as I know there are 50 states and 1 district….

B

Quite so. Each state has its own system of courts. What I mean is jurisdiction – authority to consider and try certain and particular cases. As a matter of fact, I’ve come to the end of my speech.

A.

Right. You’ll clear out the matter, G, later while listening to other reports. Now it’s your turn, C.

C.

I’ll be talking about the US federal court system. Will you, please, look at this slide? At the bottom of the pyramid you see the federal district courts that represent 94 US districts. I’d like to stress that the whole country is divided into 12 circuits, and each circuit is divided into a certain number of districts. That is why there are 94 district courts. There are from 1 to more than 20 judges who are appointed by the President and serve for life

H.

Please, could you tell us what cases the federal district courts hear?

C.

Sure. You know, US District Courts are the trial courts of general jurisdiction for the federal government, and hear both criminal and civil cases. These are, for example, criminal cases involving violation of federal laws, civil cases involving wrongs under federal law or the Constitution, civil actions brought by or against the United States.

H.

I see.

C

Now I move to appellate courts. There are 12 courts by the number of circuits, and they hear appeals from district courts. The highest court in the federal system is the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court sits in Washington, D.C., and has final jurisdiction on all cases that it hears. It may review decisions made by the U.S. courts of appeals, and it may also choose to hear appeals from state appellate courts if a constitutional or other federal issue is involved.

I.

And what about those courts presented by the sides of the pyramid?

C.

These are special federal courts - the Court of Federal Claims, which adjudicates monetary claims against the U.S. government, and the Tax Court dealing with tax matters. The Court of International Trade hears cases involving international trade and customs matters. By the way, I’m through with my report. Have you got any more questions?

A.

Thank you, C. We can now move to the last point of our agenda – the US state courts. D, will you please start?

D.

Gladly. Speaking about the state court system we must have in mind the fact that no two states have identical judiciaries. But you will not be surprised to hear that all the states have the same hierarchy of courts as the federal government does.

E.

The lowest level may be named as magistrate courts, municipal courts, county courts or traffic courts. More superior courts are district or circuit courts that hear more serious criminal or civil suits.

D.

Additionally, a state may have special tribunals like juvenile courts or divorce courts. Next level, as you all guess, is represented by appellate courts, and finally each state has a supreme court.

E.

In fact we have found out that there are more than 1,000 state courts by various types.

Thank you for attention

I

Just a minute! Can you give us an example of a state court system?

A.

We are going to speak about it after a short break. As for now, our meeting is adjourned.