29
votes
Why is the federal judiciary of the United States divided into circuits?
While the answer by Jen does a good job explaining why some possible alternative structures for US courts of appeal (circuit courts) would be unworkable, the real reason why we have such courts is ...
- 113k
15
votes
Accepted
Why does the USA not have a constitutional court?
Why does the one country that promotes constitutional democracies
above all others not have a judicial branch specifically for those
matters? I know SCOTUS will hear these matters . . . I have had it
...
- 194k
14
votes
In the United States, must state courts follow rulings by federal courts of appeals?
Widely accepted answer: no, state courts are not bound by circuit precedent
The near-consensus is that state courts need not follow the rulings by federal courts of appeal.1 State courts are ...
- 42.9k
12
votes
Accepted
Why is the federal judiciary of the United States divided into circuits?
Since you don't present alternatives to the division of the federal judiciary into circuits, I will consider the options that I can envision and which are undoubtably within the power of Congress to ...
- 42.9k
11
votes
Why does the USA not have a constitutional court?
Wikipedia says the first constitutional court per se was established in Austria in 1919. So that accounts for why the US didn't have one at its founding: they hadn't been invented yet.
In fact, in ...
- 29k
8
votes
Accepted
Does being overturned on appeal have consequences for the careers of trial judges?
canada
The mere fact of being frequently overturned on appeal would only have reputational consequences and secondary effects on career advancement (not suggesting these are minor effects).
But being ...
- 42.9k
8
votes
Accepted
Which law spells out judicial immunity?
new-zealand
The New Zealand Supreme Court describes judicial immunity as "common law doctrine":
Judicial immunity is common law doctrine [citing to the English line of case law, including ...
- 42.9k
8
votes
Why does the USA not have a constitutional court?
Most of the ""Why is the US constitution/way of doing democracy weird compared to other constitutional democracies" comes down to the age of the document/democracy. We're still ...
- 805
7
votes
Does being overturned on appeal have consequences for the careers of trial judges?
united-states
Does being overturned on appeal have consequences for the careers of
trial judges?
In general no. Indeed, federal judges serve for life. And, judges in some state courts serve for life,...
- 194k
6
votes
Why does the USA not have a constitutional court?
The reason for this is all courts in the U.S. are able to hear constitutional matters and rule on them. Any court at or below the level of the court that makes the ruling is expected to abide by that ...
- 22.7k
4
votes
In the United States, what decides whether a case should go to the state courts or the federal courts?
State crimes must be prosecuted by state prosecutors in state courts. Federal crimes must be prosecuted by federal prosecutors in federal courts. hszmv's answer describes the DOJ's policy where there ...
- 42.9k
4
votes
are there any legal systems in the world where the judiciary and the legislature are the same?
Historically, this was true in the Icelandic Commonwealth in the Middle Ages, and in some democratic Greek city-states in the classical era.
Similarly, in non-democratic feudal regimes, the lord or ...
- 194k
4
votes
Why is the federal judiciary of the United States divided into circuits?
From the legal perspective, the only answer is "because that's how it was set up". It was set up via the Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat 73, §2.
And be it further enacted, That the United ...
- 210k
4
votes
Why is the federal judiciary of the United States divided into circuits?
Why have circuits in the first place?
How courts are organized is mostly an issue of efficient and effective administration of justice, while balancing the ideals of justice itself (e.g. consistency, ...
- 5,796
4
votes
Can academic writings be a source of unwritten law?
In practice, common law courts turn to academic writing, either law review articles or legal treatises or the "Restatements of Law", on a regular, but infrequent basis. These sources are not ...
- 194k
3
votes
the whole judiciary is based on abductive reasoning
The judiciary is not a product of abductive reasoning
The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judicative branch, and court or judiciary system) is the system of ...
- 197k
3
votes
Accepted
What is the judicial rationale for introducing the grainger test to qualify beliefs?
As revised, I think this question is really asking why the judge in Grainger plc v Nicholson [2009] UKEAT 0219_09_0311 laid down the test that he did, when the statutory provision at hand used more ...
- 4,671
3
votes
What is the judicial rationale for introducing the grainger test to qualify beliefs?
It does mean any religious or philosophical belief
The Grainger test is a test to determine what qualifies as a religious or philosophical belief as opposed to any sophistry a plaintiff might espouse.
...
- 197k
3
votes
Accepted
What is it about the SDNY that results in the phenomenon captured by the slang name "Sovereign District of New York"?
The SDNY seems to hear a lot of high-profile civil and criminal cases ... What is it about this section of the court system that results in this peculiar phenomenon, captured in that it is widely ...
- 35.1k
3
votes
Accepted
Does the US judicial system treat the constitution differently to any other law?
Every court in the United States from municipal traffic court to a state court to a U.S. District Court has both the right and the obligation to consider claims of unconstitutionality just like any ...
- 194k
3
votes
In the United States, what decides whether a case should go to the state courts or the federal courts?
Criminal Cases
In criminal cases, federal prosecutors decide which cases to prosecute under federal law, while state prosecutors decide independently which cases to prosecute under state law. ...
- 194k
2
votes
In the United States, what decides whether a case should go to the state courts or the federal courts?
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has adopted what is called the Petite Policy which holds that the Federal Government will presume that any state prosecution of facts applicable to federal charges ...
- 22.7k
2
votes
What legal remedies are available for the non-performance of contractual obligations that cannot be appraised?
What damage did they suffer as a result of the breach?
When either aggrieved party makes a claim, they will need to clearly state the monetary damages they seek and on what basis they suffered that ...
- 197k
2
votes
Can academic writings be a source of unwritten law?
In Shari`ah law, there are two authoritative sources of law, the Qur’an and the Ḥadith. However, sometimes things are not crystal clear, and there may be need to engage in legal reasoning beyond ...
- 210k
2
votes
Accepted
Purpose of Judiciary- Justice or well-being of people?
What should an ideal judiciary do
Justice according to the law.
The consequences of making decisions should not be taken into account unless it is the law that they should be. (Where there is no such ...
- 25.5k
1
vote
How does a judge decide how to examine an unrepresented defendant giving evidence?
As in the magistrates court, it's the unrepresented defendent's responsibility to present their evidence and then be cross-examined on it - just as any other witness would. Many defendents are ...
- 390
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible