page_title: Certificate of division
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Certificate of division / Background
context_page_description: 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. As Chief Justice John Marshall wrote, he did not have "the privilege of dividing the court when alone."
  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. In criminal cases, the certificate of division was the only source of appellate jurisdiction from the circuit courts until 1889. 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. 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.
caption: Alexander Dallas discussed the unavailability of a certificate of division procedure in a 1798 case where he acted as both counsel and reporter.
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