48 U.S.C. § 1424 District Court of Guam; Local Courts; Jurisdiction

• Library: United States Statutes
• Edition: 2023 Edition
• Currency: Current through P.L. 118-19 (published on www.congress.gov on 10/06/2023)

(a) District Court of Guam; unified court system

(1) The judicial authority of Guam shall be vested in a court established by Congress designated as the "District Court of Guam", and a judicial branch of Guam which branch shall constitute a unified judicial system and include an appellate court designated as the "Supreme Court of Guam", a trial court designated as the "Superior Court of Guam", and such other lower local courts as may have been or shall hereafter be established by the laws of Guam.

(2) The Supreme Court of Guam may, by rules of such court, create divisions of the Superior Court of Guam and other local courts of Guam.

(3) The courts of record for Guam shall be the District Court of Guam, the Supreme Court of Guam, the Superior Court of Guam (except the Traffic and Small Claims divisions of the Superior Court of Guam) and any other local courts or divisions of local courts that the Supreme Court of Guam shall designate.

(b) Jurisdiction

The District Court of Guam shall have the jurisdiction of a district court of the United States, including, but not limited to, the diversity jurisdiction provided for in section 1332 of title 28, and that of a bankruptcy court of the United States.

(c) Original jurisdiction

In addition to the jurisdiction described in subsection (b), the District Court of Guam shall have original jurisdiction in all other causes in Guam, jurisdiction over which is not then vested by the legislature in another court or other courts established by it. In causes brought in the district court solely on the basis of this subsection, the district court shall be considered a court established by the laws of Guam for the purpose of determining the requirements of indictment by grand jury or trial by jury.

Cite as 48 U.S.C. § 1424

Source: Aug. 1, 1950, ch. 512, §22, 64 Stat. 389; Aug. 27, 1954, ch. 1017, §1, 68 Stat. 882; Pub. L. 85-444, §§1, 2, June 4, 1958, 72 Stat. 178, 179; Pub. L. 95-598, title III, §335, Nov. 6, 1978, 92 Stat. 2680; Pub. L. 98-454, title VIII, §§801, 803, title X, §1001, Oct. 5, 1984, 98 Stat. 1741, 1743, 1745; Pub. L. 108-378, §1(a), Oct. 30, 2004, 118 Stat. 2206.

Notes from the Office of Law Revision Counsel

current through 5/22/2023

EDITORIAL NOTES

AMENDMENTS

2004-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 108-378 amended subsec. (a) generally. Prior to amendment, subsec. (a) read as follows: "The judicial authority of Guam shall be vested in a court of record established by Congress, designated the 'District Court of Guam,' and such local court or courts as may have been or shall hereafter be established by the laws of Guam in conformity with section 1424-1 of this title."