Chapter 2 Show Courts and Alternative Dispute Resolution IMPORTANT:� The Power of judicial review is NOT mentioned in the Constitution.� Rather, it was established in the watershed case of Marbury v. Madison .� In that case, the court stated �It is emphatically the province and duty of the Judicial Department to say what the law is� If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each�� The Role of the Courts As part of government, their role is to interpret the law and to determine whether laws are constitutional.�� This is called judicial review. Basic Judicial Requirements Before a lawsuit can be heard, several requirements must be met. 1. Jurisdiction 2. Venue 3. Standing to Sue Jurisdiction is the authority of a court to hear and decide a specific action.� It is based on the case of Marbury v. Madison, which basically held that the judiciary had the right and power to determine whether the laws and actions of the other two divisions (legislature, executive) are constitutional. Types of Jurisdiction include:
Lets look a little closer at some of them: Personal Jurisdiction Personal (or in personam) jurisdiction is a geographic concept. Courts have personal jurisdiction over persons residing in or doing business within a particular county, district, state or country. All states, including the federal government, have one or more long arm statutes.� These laws dictate under what terms a nonresident person or entity , who would not otherwise be subject to the courts jurisdiction, may nonetheless be required to appear before the court. The classic example is child support nonpayment by an ex-spouse who lives in another state.� Despite living in this other state, Texas could reach the laggard paying ex-spouse. The key to whether a nonresident will be subject to a court�s jurisdiction is the quantity and nature of the nonresident�s contacts with the state within the court sits.� In other words, the concept of minimum contacts, and the stream of commerce notions. Review Case 2.1, Cole v. Mileti Notice the result is not based solely on �I was �never� in the state� type of reasoning.� In the old days this might have worked, but not with new technology considerations. A related concept is jurisdiction over property (in rem), where the court has jurisdiction over the property within the county, district or state. Using in rem jurisdiction, the courts can get quasi in rem jurisdiction over individuals due to their property being in the court�s jurisdiction. � Subject Matter Jurisdiction. A court�s subject mater jurisdiction is usually defined by the statute or constitution creating the court. In both federal and state court systems, a trial courts subject matter jurisdiction may be limited by:
A court limited by one or more of these factors is considered to have limited jurisdiction, otherwise, the court has general (unlimited) jurisdiction. Consider the various special courts, such as probate, criminal courts, family courts, admiralty, patents, etc. When one or more courts (federal and/or state) have subject matter jurisdiction over the same dispute, these courts are said to have concurrent jurisdiction.� When a case may be tried only in a certain court (state or federal), the court is said to have exclusive jurisdiction. Jurisdiction of Federal Courts. Federal Question Jurisdiction arises if a case involves an alleged violation of the US Constitution, federal statute or regulation, or a treaty between the US and a foreign county(ies). Diversity Jurisdiction of a federal court arises if:
For purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a corporation is a citizen of both the state of incorporation and the state of its principal place of business. Venue and Standing Jurisdiction deals with whether a court has the authority to hear a case involving specific persons or property and subject matter.� Two other concepts of importance are venue and standing.� Merely because a court may have jurisdiction dos not mean it has venue. Venue:� within a particular jurisdiction, the most appropriate location for a trial to be held and from which a jury will be selected.� If I had a wreck in Houston, it wouldn�t make much sense to have the trial in El Paso, would it? Standing to Sue: an individual or entity must have a sufficient stake in the controversy before they may bring suit.� This is a legally protected and tangible interest. Whether standing exists, in turn, will depend in part on whether there is a justiciable controversy- that is, where it is real and substantial, not moot, hypothetical, or academic.� (In other words, there must be actual damage, not hypothetical damages yet to occur, no matter how probable they might be.). State Court Systems Basically three tiered.�� Trial� -�� Appellate -�� Supreme Court Appellate courts (intermediate and supreme) typically limit their review to questions of law and procedure, rather than questions of fact, which generally are the domain of the trial court. TEXAS COURTS AND APPEALS
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������������������ ������������������ ������������������ Municipal Courts����������������������������������� Justice of Peace Courts In general, the appeals go up to the Texas Ct. of Appeals and then to the Texas Supreme court if a civil action or the Texas Ct of Criminal Appeals if criminal.� If a death penalty is involved, the appeal is direct to the Texas Ct. of Criminal appeals. Federal Court System: Basically three tiered.� The US District courts are the trial courts, and they cover a district. The US Court of Appeals are divided in 13 courts, Texas is in the 5th Court of Appeals. The US Supreme Court is the supreme court of the land, even over STATE supreme (or highest) courts. The US Supreme Court hears appeals based on a writ of certiorari (cert).� In order to hear the case and have the lower court bring it up, 4 of 9 justices must vote to hear it.� If the court doesn�t hear the case does not mean they approve the ruling of the lower court, merely they chose not to review it. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) ADR types
Which court has the power of review?Article 137 of the Constitution of India grants the Supreme Court the power to review any of its judgments or orders.
When decisions of lower courts are reviewed is called?Appellate courts review the decisions of lower courts to determine if the court applied the law correctly. They exist as part of the judicial system to provide those who have judgments made against them an opportunity to have their case reviewed.
Who has the authority to exercise judicial review?The best-known power of the Supreme Court is judicial review, or the ability of the Court to declare a Legislative or Executive act in violation of the Constitution, is not found within the text of the Constitution itself. The Court established this doctrine in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803).
What is the name for asking a higher court to review the decision?appeal - A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." Both the plaintiff and the defendant can appeal, and the party doing so is called the appellant.
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