sion and in the Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division, composed of two judges, ordinarily, for the disposition of appeals from the petty or quarter sessions, from the county court, and from divers other inferior tribunals.
(f) Above the Supreme Court, as a final court of appeal, is the House of Lords, whose appellate jurisdiction dates back to the thirteenth century. At present, however, only a few of its members take any part in the performance of its judicial functions. They are known as Lords of Appeal. The Lord Chancellor presides over them. (See Lords, House of.) The final court of appeal for cases arising in India and the colonies is the Privy Council (q.v.), which has also final appellate jurisdiction over judgments of the ecclesiastical courts and of the Naval Prize Court.
From the foregoing sketch of the English courts it is apparent that a litigated case may be passed upon by four successive tribunals. It may be instituted, for example, in a county court, thence appealed to a divisional court, thence to the Court of Appeals, and finally to the House of Lords. A similar series of appeals may terminate in the Privy Council.
II. In the United States, distinct systems of courts exist, one organized under the Federal Constitiition and statutes, the others under the Constitution and statutes of the several States.
Federal Courts. (a) Sec. 1 of Art. III. of the Federal Constitution declares that “the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as Congress may from time to time establish.” By the second section of the same article, as modified by the Eleventh Amendment to the Constitution, the judicial power of these courts is extended to all cases in law and equity arising under the Federal Constitution, laws, and treaties; to all cases affecting foreign ambassadors, ministers, or consuls; to all admiralty and maritime cases; to controversies to which the United States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States, between citizens of different States, between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, between a State or the citizens thereof and foreign States, citizens, or subjects; and to suits by a State against a citizen of another State.
(b) Under the power conferred upon it to establish judicial tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court, Congress has established a Court of Claims, district courts, circuit courts, and circuit courts of appeal. Besides these, it has provided for various courts in the Territories. The latter are not, however, United States courts under article three of the Constitution, but are rather Congressional courts. They are called into being as an incident to the Congressional authority to make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory of the United States. Their judges are not entitled to hold office during good behavior, but may be appointed for a term of years, and may be subject to suspension or removal from office by the President.
(c) The Court of Claims was established in 1855 to hear and determine certain classes of claims against the United States, thus permitting citizens in many cases to sue the Government. See Claims, Court of.
(d) By the act of 1789 the States were divided into thirteen districts, which have increased to sixty-nine (1902), each district having a judge, a clerk, a marshal, and an attorney appointed by the Federal Government. The district courts have an extensive jurisdiction, embracing jurisdiction over admiralty (q.v.) and maritime causes; suits arising under the revenue laws, the civil-rights statutes, and various other legislation; prosecutions for crimes against the United States or for the recovery of penalties under Federal laws; proceedings in bankruptcy, and many other subjects of litigation. See District Court.
(e) Next above the district courts are the circuit courts, originally six, now nine, in number, exercising both an original and appellate jurisdiction. They have original jurisdiction over many subjects concurrently with the State courts or the district courts. For example, many criminal prosecutions may be instituted either in the district court or the circuit court; and many civil actions, both of a common-law and of an equitable nature, may be brought in a State court or in a United States Circuit Court at the option of the plaintiff. In some civil suits, the amount involved, exclusive of interest and costs, must exceed $2000, in order that suit may be instituted in a circuit court. Most cases brought in one of these courts are controversies in which the United States or a State is the complainant, or are between citizens of different States, or involve rights secured by the Federal Constitution, or by Federal statutes or treaties. Originally these courts were held by members of the United States Supreme Court and by district judges, the Chief Justice and each of the associate justices of the Supreme Court spending a part of each year in the conduct of a circuit court. Later, circuit judges were provided for, the number being twenty-five at present (1902); and circuit courts may be held by a Supreme Court justice, or a circuit court judge, or a district judge, or by any two of these. The process of these courts runs to any part of the United States, so that a warrant of court issued by the circuit court in Florida may be served by a United States marshal in Alaska.
(f) By an act of Congress passed in 1891, the appellate jurisdiction of the circuit courts has been transferred to the circuit courts of appeal, of which there are nine—one in each circuit. Each of these courts consists of three judges, any two of whom constitute a quorum. Its members are selected from the following list: The Supreme Court justice assigned to the circuit in question, the circuit judges and the district judges of that circuit; but no justice or judge is allowed to sit in this tribunal in a case which was tried before him while holding a circuit or district court. It is apparent, therefore, that the personnel of these courts changes frequently.
(g) The final appellate tribunal of the Federal judiciary is the Supreme Court—probably the most unique and the most influential judicial body in the world. See Supreme Court of the United States.
III. The State courts are modeled after those of England. It is true they do not include admiralty nor ecclesiastical tribunals; but this is because admiralty and maritime jurisdiction is confided exclusively to the Federal courts by
