Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts

The jurisdiction of the federal courts is determined by two factors – the subject matter of a case and the parties who are involved in a case.

If the subject of a case involves the interpretation of the Constitution, a federal law, or a treaty with a foreign nation, the case is tried in a federal court. Cases involving admiralty or maritime law – that is, the law of the sea, including ships, their crews, and disputes over actions and rights at sea – also come under the jurisdiction of the courts. If a case involves bankruptcy, it too will be tried in a federal court.

The federal courts also hear cases if certain parties or persons are involved in a case. These include the following: 1) foreign ambassadors and other representatives of foreign governments; 2) two or more state governments; 3) the United States government or one of its offices and agencies; 4) citizens of different states; 5) a state and a citizen of a different state; 6) citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states; 7) a state or its citizens and a foreign country or its citizens.

Concurrent Jurisdiction

In most cases, the difference in jurisdiction between the federal courts and the state courts is clear. There are some kinds of cases, however, in which cases may be tried in either the federal courts or the state courts. Cases in which the two kinds of courts share jurisdiction are said to be under concurrent jurisdiction. Concurrent jurisdiction exists, for example, in cases in which citizens of different states are involved and in which the money in dispute is at least $10,000. In such a case, a person may sue in either a federal or a state court. However, if the person being sued insists that the case be heard in a federal court, it must be tried there.

Original and Appellate Jurisdiction

The court in which a case is first tried is known as a trial court. A trial court is said to have original jurisdiction tothe federal court system, the district courts as well as several other lower courts have only original jurisdiction.

If a person who loses a case in a trial court wishes to appeal a decision, he or she may take the case to a court with appellate jurisdiction. In the federal court system, as you will see, the courts of appeals have appellate jurisdiction. Thus, a party may appeal a case from a district court to a court of appeals. And if that party loses in the court of appeals, he or she may appeal the case to the Supreme Court, which also has appellate jurisdiction.