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The courts, the law, and basic rights
- What is the civil procedure?
- The right to be heard
- Substantive vs. procedural law
- Jurisdiction
Federal courts in the U.S.
- Multiple court system
- Federal court structure
- Derives authority from…
- Types of cases heard
State courts in the U.S.
- Multiple court system
- State court structure
- Derives authority from…
- Types of cases heard
Transcript
Hi. My name is Matt, and welcome to US Courtroom5 the Law, the first lesson in our course, introduction to civil procedure.
In this lesson, we\’ll look at the courts, the law and basic rights, federal courts in the US, and state courts in the US.
What is civil procedure?
Civil procedure consists of the rules that govern procedures in federal, state, and territories.
Civil procedure concerns civil cases, not criminal ones. The first, fifth, and fourteenth amendments give you the right to the court system and to due process.
Courts based decisions on substantive and procedural laws. Substantive laws tell us our rights and how to behave and are interpreted by the courts. For instance, most states have a law on the books against trespassing.
If you trespass on someone\’s property and they sue you, they will consult the substantive law that says it\’s wrong to trespass. They may find case law in which courts have ruled against people trespassing.
Procedural law sets out the rules for enforcing the law or for bringing a suit. For instance, a procedural rule may tell you how much time the property owner has to sue you or where to go to file the suit.
This entire course is about procedural law. Procedural law allows everyone to have their day in court.
That way, people won\’t resort to less civilized means of being heard. In every state, there is a book or website that provides rules for how to proceed in court. Those instructions are typically called rules of civil procedure. To survive in court, you should find these rules for your jurisdiction.
One of the first things you do procedurally in litigation is determine jurisdiction. That is, you pick the court with authority to hear your case. Is your case valued at under five hundred dollars? Is it a divorce case? Or will you be suing someone in another state? Each of these scenarios requires a different court. In the next section, we\’ll provide an overview of federal and state courts to give you a better idea of jurisdiction.
The federal system of courts is divided into three main units, the US Supreme Court, appeals courts, trial courts, and other courts and boards that handle specific types of cases.
The federal courts consist of multiple trial courts and courts based on subject, like bankruptcy and taxes. These are courts where trials take place or where cases originate. It is in these courts that you have to make a decision about jurisdiction.
Courts of appeals are just that, courts where cases are appealed. The US Supreme Court is the highest court and final stop in the federal justice system.
Written laws, like the federal rules of civil procedure, the constitution, the US codes, and others, give the federal courts authority to hear and rule on certain cases. Through cases, the courts interpret what written laws mean.
Federal courts can decide federal questions, like constitutional issues, military law, and cases involving laws the US Congress passed. They can decide diversity cases, like disputes between residents of different states or between states. They can resolve cases where the US government is a party or laws regarding treaties and diplomats. Finally, they can resolve admiralty law issues, which involve water bodies in and around the US.
Like the federal system, state courts are divided into multiple units, the state supreme court, appeals courts, trial courts, and other courts that handle specific types of cases.
Each state system has its own hierarchy that ends with the state supreme court.
Unlike the federal system, there is no uniformity. A superior court in one state may be the highest level trial court, while in another state, it might be equivalent to magistrate or traffic court. Some states have special courts like family court, while others do not. Know your jurisdiction.
Written laws like the state rules of civil procedure, state statutes, codes and rules, and the state constitution give state courts authority to hear and rule on certain cases. Through cases, the courts interpret what written laws mean.
Though federal courts are numerous, they don\’t do nearly the volume of breadth of cases that state courts manage. State courts hear foreclosures, evictions, divorces, cases about custody, traffic, wills, debt collection, slip and falls, and on and on. Deciding then which state court to bring your case is more complex than deciding which federal court to bring it in, but it too is manageable as long as you become familiar with the rules of civil procedure in your state.
We began this lesson with courts, the law, and basic rights, including discussion of civil procedure, the right to be heard, substantive and procedural law and jurisdiction.
In the section federal courts in the US, we talked about the multiple court system, court structure, and where the federal courts derive their authority. Finally, we discussed the types of cases heard in federal courts.
The final section discusses state courts in the US, including the multiple court systems, court structure, where state courts derive authority, and the types of cases heard in state courts.
See you in lesson two, civil procedure at the complaint stage.