美国法院体系.doc

_The American Court System 美国法院系统2.The Federal Court System 联邦法院体系 The federal court system is basically a three-tiered model consisting of (1) U.S. district courts (trial courts of general jurisdiction) and various courts of limited jurisdiction, (2) U.S. courts of appeals (intermediate courts of appeals), and (3) the United States Supreme Court. 联邦法院体系模式基本上由三个序列组成（）美国联邦大区法院（拥有普遍管辖权的初审法院）和各种各样的有限管辖权的法院，（）美国联邦上诉法院（上诉仲裁法院）和（）美国联邦最高法院。 Unlike state court judges, who are usually elected, federal court judgesincluding the justices of the Supreme Courtare appointed by the president of the U.S. and confirmed by Senate. All federal judges receive lifetime appointments (because under Article 3 they “hold their offices during Good Behavior”). 与州法院法官通常由选举产生不同，联邦法院的法官包括最高法院的大法官们是由美国总统提名，由参议院批准。所有的联邦法官都是终身制（这是由美国联邦宪法第三条“他们品行端正因而受任终身”所规定的）。a. U.S. District Court 美国联邦区法院 At federal level, the equivalent of a state trial court of general jurisdiction is the district court. There is at least one federal district court in every state. The number of judicial districts can vary over time, primarily owing to population changes and corresponding caseloads. Currently, there are ninety-four federal judicial districts. 在联邦法院的体系中，与享有普遍管辖权的州初审法院相当的是地区法院。每个州至少有一个联邦的地区法院。地区法院的数目在不同的时期不尽相同，首要因素是人口数量的变化，还有待处理案件的数量。迄今为止和，联邦地区法院共有个。 U.S. District Courts conduct trials concerning federal matters, such as federal crimes and enforcement of federal statutes. Most federal crimes involve crimes against the government or crimes occurring on federal property. For example, one crime, kidnapping, is a federal crime even though it does not occur on federal land. Federal jurisdiction for the crime of kidnapping is based on taking of the victim across state or country lines and the statute provides that the failure to release the victim within twenty-four hours after seizure creates “a rebuttable presumption that such person has been transported to interstate or foreign commerce.” 美国联邦地区法院审理涉及联邦事务的案件，例如联邦刑事犯罪和执行联邦法律的事项。大部分的联邦刑事犯罪是反政府刑事犯罪和侵犯联邦财产的刑事犯罪。例如，绑架儿童的刑事犯罪，就是联邦刑事犯罪，即便这宗犯罪不一定是涉及若干个州的。联邦对于绑架罪的管辖是根据受害者跨州或跨国界以及制定法规定的在受害人成为人质小时之后仍没有被释放的这个反驳性假设来推定的，这个人已经被转运到他州或者外国领地。 Moreover, it is possible to sue a federal court even though the claim is based on state law when the plaintiff and defendant are from different states and countries. Diversity of citizenship jurisdiction exists when a plaintiff is a citizen of one state and the defendant is a citizen of another state, or when one party is a foreign country or a citizen of a foreign country and the other is a citizen of the United States. The amount of claimed damages in a diversity of citizenship case must be at least $75,000. 另外，如果原告和被告是来自于不同的州或国家，那么即使这个案件可以根据州的法律来主张权利，它仍有可以诉诸联邦法院来予以解决。当原告来自于一个州，而被告是另一州的公民；或者当事人一方是外国国家；再或者一方是外国公民而另一方是美国公民，就存在多元管辖的问题。多元管辖的案件中，当事人所主张的损害赔偿不得低于美元。 Also, there are other courts with original, but special (or limited) jurisdiction, such as the federal bankruptcy courts and others show in Exhibit3-1. 另外，还有一些法院拥有特别或有限的司法管辖权，例如破产法院和图表种所列的其他法院。b. U.S. Courts of Appeals 联邦上诉法院 In federal court system, there are thirteen U.S. courts of appealsalso referred to as U.S. circuit courts of appeals. The federal courts of appeals for twelve of the circuits, including the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, hear appeals from the federal district courts located within their respective judicial circuits. The Court of Appeal for the Thirteen Circuit, called the Federal Circuit, has national appellate jurisdiction over certain types of cases, such as cases involving patent law and cases in which the U.S. government is a defendant. Also heard before this court are appeals from specialized courts (e.g., the U.S. Claims Court and the U.S. Court of International Trade) and claims arising from decisions of federal administrative agencies. 在美国联邦法院体系中，一共有个联邦上诉法院也叫做联邦巡回上诉法院。它包括个巡回去和个美国联邦巡回法院的哥伦比亚特区。这些法院负责审理其所在的巡回司法管辖区内的联邦地球法院的上诉案件。第十三个巡回审判区的上诉法院叫做联邦巡回法院，对于某些类型的案件，例如涉及专利权法的案件或者是以美国联邦政府为被告的案件，拥有国家上诉管辖权。这类法院也审理特别法院的上诉案（如美国联邦索赔法院和美国联邦国家贸易法院）和联邦行政机构的判决引发的索赔案。c. The United States Supreme Court 美国联邦最高法院 The highest level of the three-tiered model of the federal court system is the United States Supreme Court. According to the language of the Article 3 of the U.S. Constitution, there is only one national Supreme Court. All other courts in federal system are considered “inferior”. Congress is empowered to create other inferior courts as it deems necessary. The inferior courts that Congress has created include the second tier in our model-the U.S. court of appealsas well as the district courts and any other courts of limited or specialized jurisdiction. 美国联邦法院的三级体系模式中最高的一级就是美国联邦最高法院。根据美国宪法第三条的规定，联邦只有一个最高法院。联邦系统中其他所有的法院都被认为是低于最高法院的法院组织。国会认为必要时有权创设较低级的法院。国会创设的较低级的法院包括体系模式中的第二级别美国联邦上诉法院还有地区法院和具有有限管辖权和特别管辖权的其他法院。 The United States Supreme Court consists of nine justices. Although the Supreme Court has original, or trial, jurisdiction in rare instances (e.g. , in legal disputes in which a state is a party, cases between two states, and cases involving ambassadors), most of its work is as an appeals court. The Supreme Court can review any case decided by any of the federal courts of appeals, and it also has appellate authority over some cases decided in the state courts. 美国联邦法院由九位大法官组成。虽然最高法院只对几位有限的案件具有初审管辖权（例如，在州作为一方当事人的法律争议中，或者案件涉及两个州，或者涉及大使的案件），它的大部分案件是受理上诉。联邦最高法院可以审查任何已经由联邦上诉法院做出判决的案件，它也同样有权受理经由州法院判决生效的上诉案件。Appeals to the Supreme Court To bring a case before the Supreme Court, a party requests the Court to issue a writ of certiorari. A writ of certiorari is an order issued by the Supreme Court to a lower court requiring the latter to send it the record of the case for review. The court will not issue a writ of certiorari unless at least four of the nine justices approve of it. This is called the rule of four. Whether the Court will issue a writ of certiorari is entirely within its discretion. The court is not required to issue one, and most petitions for writs are denied. (Thousands of cases are filled with the Supreme Court each year, yet it he