16 The court system of the usa

The American court system is complex, mainly because of the federal system of government in the USA. Each state runs its own separate system of courts. In addition, there is a separate system of federal courts, which operates alongside the state courts. Individuals fall under the jurisdiction of two different court systems, their state courts and federal courts. They can sue or be sued in either system, depending mostly on what their case is about. The vast majority of cases are resolved in the state courts.

The structure of state courts varies from state to state. Usually there are minor trial courts for less serious cases, major trial courts for more serious cases, intermediate appellate courts and courts of last resort. The state minor trial courts have quite professional judges, but some states still have Justices of Peace - men and women who have never gone to law school and never taken the bar exam. The next level of the pyramid is made up of state's courts of general jurisdiction, which are the basic trial courts. These courts hear civil cases involving larger amounts of money than in minor trial courts. They also handle cases of serious crime, such as burglary, rape and murder. The judges are always lawyers. In states with small population the loser of the trial court can appeal directly to the state's top court usually called the Supreme Court. In other words, these states have "two-tier" court systems. The states with big or middle-sized populations have a "three-tier" system. Most appeals go to the middle level.

Federal courts are also organized in three tiers: district courts, courts of appeals and the Supreme Court. All federal judges are appointed for life. A case which falls within federal jurisdiction is heard first in one of the ninety-four district courts. Every state has at least one, in the larger states there are more than one district court. Each case is tried by a single judge, sitting alone. All cases resolved in the district courts can be appealed to one of the thirteen federal circuit courts. There are no jurors, witnesses, cross-examinations and other features of the trial courts here. The judges sit in panels made up of three judges each, examining rulings made and procedures followed in the trial courts. For most cases the circuit courts are the end of the line, but in some cases an appeal may be made to the highest court in the land: the U.S. Supreme Court. This court hears cases in which someone claims that a lower court ruling is unjust or in which someone claims that Constitutional law has been violated. The U.S. Supreme Court has only nine justices, headed by Chief Justice. The decisions of this Court are final and become legally binding.

14 Courts of general jurisdiction

Article 125 of the Constitution of Ukraine stipulates the structure of the courts of general jurisdiction based on the principles of territoriality and specialization. While the principle of territoriality reflects the administrative territorial division of the country and is a traditional one, the principle of specialization is comparatively new in the court system of Ukraine. It foresees the creation in future of specialized courts in different spheres of justice (criminal, civil, administrative, financial and other) together with the corresponding superior courts.

According to the Law of Ukraine “On Court System”, adopted in February 2002, the specialized courts are commercial, administrative and other types of courts having the status of specialized. Today only commercial courts function as a separate type of courts. The Law envisions three years for creation of the system of administrative courts. It also stipulates, that until then all cases that lie within the jurisdiction of local administrative courts, are to be taken to the local courts of general jurisdiction, and the cases that lie within the jurisdiction of administrative courts of appeals and the Highest Administrative Court of Ukraine are to be heard in the corresponding general courts of appeal and the Cassation Court of Ukraine according to the judicial procedure stipulated by the corresponding laws. This is ensured by creation of specialized courts of administrative jurisdiction, including the corresponding panels of judges.

System of the courts of general jurisdiction of Ukraine:

• local courts;

• courts of appeal, the Appellate Court of Ukraine;

• the Cassation Court of Ukraine;

• highest specialized courts;

• the Supreme Court of Ukraine.

The highest judicial body of general jurisdiction is the Supreme Court of Ukraine. The highest bodies of the system of specialized courts are the corresponding highest specialized courts.