In the United States, federal courts or tribunals can be classified as either Article I tribunals or Article III tribunals. The United States federal courts are the system of courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the federal government of the United States. ...

The Judicial Branch of the Government: Article III tribunals

Article III courts comprise the Supreme Court of the United States and the "inferior" courts established by the Congress. They constitute the judicial branch of the government (which is defined by Article III of the Constitution). Under the Constitution, Congress can vest these courts with jurisdiction to hear cases involving the Constitution or federal law, as well as certain cases involving disputes between citizens of different states or countries. Article III includes provisions to protect the courts against influence by the other branches of government: judges may not have their salaries reduced during their tenure in office, and their appointment is for life (barring impeachment and removal for bad behavior). Seal of the Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court in the United States of America. ... The Congress of the United States is the legislative branch of the federal government of the United States of America. ... Article Three of the United States Constitution establishes the judicial branch of the federal (national) government. ... The law of the United States is derived from the common law of England, which was in force at the time of the Revolutionary War. ...

As discussed below, the Supreme Court has ruled that only Article III courts may render final judgments in cases involving life, liberty, and private property rights, with limited exceptions.

Courts outside the Judicial Branch: Article I tribunals

Article I tribunals or legislative courts are administrative agencies set up by Congress under Article I of the Constitution, and their judges (often called administrative law judges) are not subject to the Article III protections. For example, these judges do not enjoy life tenure, and their salaries may be reduced by Congress. The existence of Article I Courts has been controversial, and their power has been challenged before the United States Supreme Court, which has determined that the Constitution places certain restrictions on Article I courts. The administrative law of the United States encompasses a number of statutes and cases which define the extent of the powers and responsibilities held by administrative agencies in the United States. ... Article One of the United States Constitution establishes the legislative branch of government, Congress, which includes the House of Representatives and the Senate. ... An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is an official who presides at an administrative trial-type hearing. ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States...

List of Article I and Article III tribunals

An administrative law judge (ALJ) in the United States is an official who presides at an administrative trial-type hearing. ... A court-martial (plural courts-martial) is a military court that determines punishments for members of the military subject to military law. ... In the United States, Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. ... The United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces exercises worldwide appellate jurisdiction over members of the United States armed forces on active duty and other persons subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. ... The United States Court of Federal Claims is a special court created on October 1, 1982 by the U.S. Congress and headquartered in Washington, D.C.. By federal law, claims brought against the United States must be brought in this court; however, as this court is established under Article... Seal of the Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest federal court in the United States of America. ... The United States Courts of Appeals (or circuit courts) are the mid-level appellate courts of the United States federal court system. ... The United States Court of International Trade is an Article III court of the U.S. Formerly known as the United States Customs Court, this court has juridictions over cases dealing with tariffs. ... The United States district courts are the general trial courts of the United States federal court system. ... The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (or FISC) is a U.S. federal court authorized under 50 USC 1803 and established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (known as FISA for short). ... The United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review is a U.S. federal court authorized under 50 USC 1803 and established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (known as FISA for short). ...

Supreme Court rulings limiting the power of Article I tribunals

The concept of a legislative court was first defined by Chief Justice John Marshall in the case of American Insurance Company v. Canter, 1 Pet. 511 (1828). In this case, a court in what was then the Territory of Florida had made a ruling on the disposition of a some bales of cotton that had been recovered from a sunken ship. This clearly fell into the realm of admiralty law, which is part of the federal judicial power according to Article III of the Constitution. Yet the judges of the Florida territorial court had four year terms, not the lifetime appointments required by Article III of the Constitution. Marshall's solution was to declare that territorial courts were established under Article I of the constitution. As such, they could not exercise the federal judicial power, and therefore the law that placed admiralty cases in their jurisdiction was unconstitutional. Portrait of Chief Justice John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755–July 6, 1835), Chief Justice of the United States and principal founder of American constitutional law and the Supreme Court of the United States power of judicial review. ... Court citation is a standard system used in common law countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters. ... 1828 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... State nickname: Sunshine State Other U.S. States Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Governor Jeb Bush (R) Official languages English Area 170,451 km² (22nd)  - Land 137,374 km²  - Water 30,486 km² (17. ... Admiralty law (usually referred to as simply admiralty and also referred to as maritime law or Law of the Sea) is a distinct body of law which governs maritime questions and offenses. ...

Ever since Canter, the federal courts have been wrestling with the division between legislative and judicial courts. The Supreme Court most thoroughly delineated the permissible scope of Article I tribunals in Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co., 458 U.S. 50 (1982), striking down the statute that created the original U.S. bankruptcy court. The Court noted in that opinion that the framers of the Constitution had developed a scheme of separation of powers which clearly required that the judicial branch be kept independent of the other two branches via the mechanism of lifetime appointments. However, the Court noted three situations (based on historical understanding) in which Congress could give judicial power to non-Article III courts: Court citation is a standard system used in common law countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters. ... 1982 is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ... Separation of powers is the idea that the powers of a sovereign government should be split between two or more strongly independent entities, preventing any one person or group from gaining too much power. ...

1. Courts for non-state areas (U.S. Territories and the District of Columbia) in which Congress is acting as both state and national government.
2. Military courts (or courts-martial), under the historical understanding and clearly laid out exceptions in the Constitution.
3. Legislative courts established under the premise that, where Congress could have simply given the Executive Branch the power to make a decision, it has the lesser power to create an executive court to make that decision – but this is limited to adjudication of public rights - for example, settling of disputes between the citizens and the government.

The Court also found that Congress has the power under Article I to create adjunct tribunals, so long as the "essential attributes of judicial power" stay in Article III courts. This power derives from two sources. First, when Congress creates rights, it can require those asserting such rights to go through an Article I tribunal. Second, Congress can create non-Article III tribunals to help Article III tribunals deal with their workload, but only if the Article I tribunals are under the control of the Article III Courts. The bankruptcy courts, as well as United States Magistrate Judges who decide some issues in the District Courts, fall within this category of "adjunct" tribunals. All actions heard in an Article I tribunal are subject to de novo review in the supervising Article III court, which retains the exclusive power to make and enforce final judgments. ... A magistrate is a judicial officer with limited authority to administer and enforce the law. ...

The Supreme Court later noted in Commodity Futures Trading Commission v. Schor, 478 U.S. 833 (1986), that parties to litigation could voluntarily waive their right to an Article III tribunal, and thereby submit themselves to a binding judgment from an Article I tribunal. Court citation is a standard system used in common law countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters. ... 1986 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

References

• Johnny H. Killian and George A. Costello, editors (1996). The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation: Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States to June 29, 1992. Government Printing Office: Washington, DC. Senate Document 103-6.
  • The section on Article III is downloadable as a 1.1 MB PDF at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/constitution/pdf/con006.pdf.
  • Page 604 of this work asserts that the concept of a legislative court first appears in Canter.
• Donald L. Doernberg, C. Keith Wingate, and Donald H. Zeigler, editors (2004). Federal Courts, Federalism and Separation of Powers: Cases and Materials. West Group Publishing. ISBN 0314149287.