A certificate of division was a source of appellate jurisdiction from the circuit courts to the Supreme Court of the United States from 1802 to 1911. Created by the Judiciary Act of 1802, the certification procedure was available only where the circuit court sat with a full panel of two: both the resident district judge and the circuit-riding Supreme Court justice.[1] As Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, he did not have "the privilege of dividing the court when alone."[2]
The certificate of division procedure had unique features. Unlike writ of error and certiorari jurisdiction, the certificate of division procedure did not require a federal question.[3] In criminal cases, the certificate of division was the only source of appellate jurisdiction from the circuit courts (save original habeas) until 1889.[4] In civil cases, although ordinary writs of error were authorized, the certificate of division remained important because it permitted appeals without regard to the amount in controversy and interlocutory appeals.[4] Inasmuch as the certificate of division permitted the Supreme Court some measure of control over its docket, it is a precursor to modern certiorari jurisdiction.
With regards to criminal cases, the Supreme Court held (in 1896) that Judiciary Act of 1891 operated as an implied repeal of the authorization to hear cases on certificates of division. But, the Court retained its authority to hear civil cases via certificates of division until the abolition of the circuit courts by the Judicial Code of 1911. A different, and rarely used, certified question procedure was adopted in 1925 and is currently codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1254(2).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
w21was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Letter from John Marshall to Joseph Story (July 13, 1819), in 8 The Papers of John Marshall 352, 352 (Charles F. Hobson ed., 1995).
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
w2324was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Nielson, 2010, at 485.