The Federal Court System In The United States: An Introduction For Judges And Judicial Administrators In Other Countries

This booklet is designed to introduce judges and judicial administrators in other countries to the U.S. federal judicial system, its organization and administration, and its relationship to the legislative and executive branches of the government. The Judicial Services Office of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts developed this booklet to support the work of the Judicial Conference Committee on International Judicial Relations. The Chief Justice presides over the Judicial Conference of the United States, the national policymaking body of the federal courts. Congress passed legislation establishing the earliest form of the Judicial Conference in 1922. Today, 26 judges comprise the Conference-the chief judge of each of the 13 federal courts of appeals, 12 district (trial) judges elected from each of the geographic circuits, and the chief judge of the U.S. Court of International Trade.