COURT
A judicial tribunal established to administer jus-
tice. An entity in the government to which the
administration of justice is delegated. In a broader
sense, the term may also refer to a legislative
assembly; a deliberative body, such as the General
Court of Massachusetts, which is its legislature.
The words court, judge, or judges, when used in
laws, are often synonymous. A kangaroo court is a
mock legal proceeding that disregards law and jus-
tice by issuing a biased, predetermined judgment
regardless of the evidence presented before it.
Judicial courts are created by the govern-
ment through the enactment of statutes or by
constitutional provisions for the purpose of
enforcing the law for the public good. They are
impartial forums for the resolution of contro-
versies between parties who seek redress from a
violation of a legal right. Both civil and crimi-
nal matters may be heard in the same court,
with different court rules and procedures for
each.
The public has a right to attend judicial pro-
ceedings. This right ensures that the proceedings
will be conducted in a fair and unbiased man-
ner. Anyone who wants may attend trials as a
spectator unless a judge has closed a courtroom
for particular proceedings in order to maintain
order, to assure DUE PROCESS OF LAW, or to pro-
tect a witness’s identity.
The U.S. Judicial System consists of 52 sepa-
rate court systems, plus territorial courts, in the
United States. Each state and the District of
Columbia has its own independent system, and
the United States government maintains federal
courts throughout the country. The federal
courts and state courts are independent of each
other. The federal courts are authorized by Arti-
cle III, Section 2, of the Constitution to hear
controversies that especially affect federal inter-
ests. Sometimes the existence of two parallel
court systems in every state creates a strain and
raises important issues concerning FEDERALISM,
the relationship between the states and the
United States. For some of these questions, the
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES makes
the final determination that is binding on every-
one.
Most courts have a multilevel structure. A
few states have a two-tiered system, but the fed-
eral government and most states use a three-
tiered model. All litigants have an opportunity
to argue their cases before a trial-level court, and
subsequently they may be able to pursue the
matter further up through two levels of appeals
courts.
In the federal court system the trial-level
court is the district court. Each state contains at
least one district court, and most of these courts
have more than one judge available to try cases.
Litigants may file an appeal with the U.S. Court
of Appeals that has jurisdiction over that district
if they are unhappy with the lower court’s deci-
sion, and the decision is the type that may be
appealed. The United States is divided into 13 judicial circuits, and one court of appeals sits in each of twelve geographical circuits. The Court
of Appeals for the Federal District sits in the
thirteenth district to hear cases formerly entertained
in the Court of Claims and the Court of
Customs and Patents Appeals, which were abolished
by the enactment of the Federal Courts
Improvement Act of 1982 (28 U.S.C.A. § 1
note). Each court of appeals has four or more
judges who sit either as panels of three or as a
whole to review the decisions of district courts
and to review or enforce the orders of many federal.
administrative agencies. If a court sits as a
whole, it is called an en banc court. Litigants
who lose a cause in a court of appeals may be
able to carry the appeal to the U.S. Supreme
Court.
Cases in state courts may also proceed from
the trial-level court up through appeals in an
appellate court and then to a state supreme
court. Different systems assign different functions
to the state supreme court, which is usually
the court of last resort, but this is not the case in
every state. When an issue based on the federal
Constitution, a treaty, or a federal statute is
involved, the U.S. Supreme Court may agree to
hear an appeal from the state supreme court.
The organization of a court and its personnel
is determined by the law that created that
court and by the court’s own rules. Generally,
the papers for each lawsuit must be filed with
the clerk of the court. The clerk and his or her
staff organize all of the records for the judges
assigned to the court. Each judge may have a law
secretary or law clerk, or there may be several
clerks who perform legal research and assist in
the drafting of decisions, orders, and memoranda.
Court officers, court attendants, or
bailiffs are available to give information and to
maintain order and peace around the courthouse.
Interpreters may be kept on call to translate
for witnesses and parties who do not speak
English well. A county sheriff or federal marshal
has the responsibility for enforcement of various
judicial orders. PROBATION officers are usually
civilian employees who assist the court by
administering the probation system for criminal
offenders and supervise court-ordered custody
or payments of money, especially CHILD SUPPORT.
A court stenographer, or court reporter
creates a written record of proceedings word for
word.
Attorneys are called officers of the court
because they have a dual responsibility to protect
the integrity of the legal system and pursue
their clients’ claims. An attorney who has been
admitted to the bar in one state is entitled to
practice in the courts of that state but that does
not entitle him or her to practice in the courts of
another state, in a federal court, or in the
Supreme Court. In order to do so, he or she
must qualify and be sworn in separately.
A term is the time during which a court is
authorized to hear cases, and a session is one of
those periods in a term when a judge is actually
hearing cases. A regular term is one called for by
law, and a special term may be called by a judge
or other official when the circumstances warrant
it. A jury may hear a case during the jury term
while a motion for relief may be made to the
court during the motion term. A general term
sometimes means the time that all of the judges
of a court sit together, or en banc, but occasionally
it refers to a single judge’s hearing all of the
cases on a particular subject.
Laws or court rules fix the particular terms
or sessions when a court is open for judicial
business. If none is fixed, a court is open at all
times. Any judicial action taken by a judge of the
court is not invalid in such circumstances
because of the time when it was taken, but it
does not necessarily mean that the courthouse
doors are unlocked 24 hours a day.
Rules of CIVIL PROCEDURE and of CRIMINAL
PROCEDURE regulate practice in the courts. The
rules spell out rights and the manner of proceeding
in regard to a court’s jurisdiction and
venue, the commencement of an action, parties,
motions, subpoenas, pretrial discovery, juries,
evidence, the order of a trial, provisional remedies,
judgments, and appeals.
The First Virtual State Court
U.S. courts have adopted various new technologies
that can assist in the administration of justice,
but the state of Michigan took the most radical
step in 2002 when it authorized the creation of the
first fully functioning cybercourt in the country. This
virtual court, once fully operational, would allow
attorneys to file court appearances, briefs, and other
court documents online. Specially trained district and
circuit judges would serve three-year assignments
on this court.
The cybercourt in its first incarnation is to be limited
in jurisdiction to business disputes with an
amount in controversy exceeding $25,000. The court
would not use juries, as it was designed to assist
businesses that need quick resolutions of disputes,
such as those involving trade secrets. Critics have
pointed out that the system would not allow judges to
examine evidence physically or even to view evidence
with any certainty, given the limitations in
viewing screen resolution in many video or real-time
communications. In addition, critics contend that
many business disputes involve issues of federal law
and diversity jurisdiction, thereby denying this court
the opportunity to hear many cases.
The Michigan Supreme Court proposed new
rules to govern the operation of the cybercourt.
These rules addressed: the filing of pleadings and
other documents via the INTERNET; the prevention of
tampering with electronic documents; how testimony
would be given via the Internet, videoconferencing,
or interactive video; how serving notice on
parties to a lawsuit via E-MAIL will work; and how
court proceedings will be made accessible to the
public.
The Michigan cybercourt was supposed to be
operational by late 2002 but by mid-2003 it was still on
the drawing board. In June 2003 the state legislature
debated whether to provide $2 million to establish it
in three locations.
FURTHER READINGS
Issenberg, Doug. 2001. “See You in Cybercourt?” Internet World
(April 1).
“Michigan Bill Will Create Cybercourt.” 2002. Associated Press
(January 9). Available online at
September 1, 2003).
“Michigan House Battles Over Cybercourt Funding.” Michigan
Technology News. Available online at
July 1, 2003).
“Michigan Wants to Speed Business Dispute Resolution with
Cybercourt.” 2001. Associated Press (February 23). Available
online at
2003).
Stephens, Gene. 2001. “Trial Run for Virtual Court.” Futurist
(November-December).
“Website of the Week.” 2002. National Law Journal (February
11).
“Wired Future for Courtrooms.” 2001. Associated Press (March
1). Available online at
1, 2003).
CROSS-REFERENCES
Courtroom Television Network; Internet.
