The role of constitutional courts in multi-level governance - United States of America: The Supreme Court
30-11-2016
This report looks at the Supreme Court of the United States, how it is organized and functions, the mechanisms by which cases reach the Court and how it treats treaties that have not been ratified by the United States government. The United States is a federated country. As such it has national governmental structures, which are outlined in its constitution, and state structures, which are outlined in the individual constitutions of each state. The United States Constitution is the second such document ...
This report looks at the Supreme Court of the United States, how it is organized and functions, the mechanisms by which cases reach the Court and how it treats treaties that have not been ratified by the United States government. The United States is a federated country. As such it has national governmental structures, which are outlined in its constitution, and state structures, which are outlined in the individual constitutions of each state. The United States Constitution is the second such document for the country, the first being the Articles of Confederation, which were in effect for the years 1781 to 1789. The Articles of Confederation had weak national structures and did not provide for a national executive or for any real national judiciary. These problems were addressed in the Constitution, which was drafted by the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and ratified by the states. The Constitution does not specify the structure of the federal judiciary that was to be adopted except for calling for the establishment of a Supreme Court and other inferior courts that Congress may establish. The Constitution does set out the areas of federal jurisdiction, and it also lists certain areas where the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction. The first federal congress established a system of lower federal courts that since 1789 have evolved into the current structure of district courts (trial-level courts), circuit courts of appeal (intermediate courts of appeal), and the Supreme Court (the court of final review). Over the past two centuries the procedures for these courts have also evolved, and Congress has whittled away at certain areas where the Supreme Court had exclusive original jurisdiction, and given that Court more control over the selection of cases that it may review on appeal. Because of the freedom that the Supreme Court has over its docket, it now renders full opinions on many fewer cases each year than it did forty years ago. The United States is also a common law jurisdiction. Many of the doctrines that govern federal jurisdiction and the practices of the Supreme Court have their origin in 'judge-made law'. In particular, the doctrine of judicial review is not mentioned in the text of the Constitution or the early judiciary acts, although history shows that it was not unfamiliar to the drafters of the Constitution. It is however, one of the most formable doctrines of the courts since it allows for the review of statutes to determine if they are compatible with the Constitution. The Supreme Court’s role in interpreting the United States Constitution and laws is paramount; however, due to the freedom granted to the Court to control most of its docket it only provides opinions in a selected few cases each year. This report was prepared by one of the speakers at a forum on 'The role of constitutional courts in multi-level governance', organised by the Comparative Law Library Unit of the European Parliamentary Research Service on 18 November 2016.
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