Opinion ID: 3013039
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Virgin Islands Court Structure

Text: The United States Constitution grants Congress the authority to “make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.” U.S. Const. art. IV, § 3, cl. 2. Under this constitutional authority, Congress enacted the Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands. 48 U.S.C. §§ 1541 et seq.3 The Revised Organic Act is “the Virgin Islands’ equivalent of a constitution,” Brow, 994 F.2d at 1032, and vests the judicial power of the Virgin Islands in local courts established by local law and in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, 48 U.S.C. § 1611. In 1984, Congress made significant amendments to the Revised Organic Act. See Act of Oct. 5, 1984, Pub. L. No. 98-454, 98 Stat. 1732. These amendments, along with certain more recent changes in Virgin Islands law, have shaped the current court structure in the Virgin Islands. The Virgin Islands court structure consists of the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands, which has original jurisdiction over local civil actions, local criminal actions, and certain other matters, 4 V.I. Code Ann. § 76; 1993 V.I. Sess. Laws 5890,4 and the District Court of the Virgin 3. “Congress enacted the first . . . Organic Act of the Virgin Islands in 1936. Because this Act was not comprehensive, Congress enacted the Revised Organic Act of 1954 . . . , which operated to repeal the 1936 Act.” Brow v. Farrelly, 994 F.2d 1027, 1032 (3d Cir. 1993) (citations omitted). Since 1954, the Revised Organic Act has been amended on various occasions. 4. “The District Court of the Virgin Islands has . . . original federal question and diversity jurisdiction . . . , and shares this jurisdiction concurrently with the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands.” Brow, 994 F.2d at 1034 (citations omitted). 5 Islands, which has “the jurisdiction of a District Court of the United States,” as well as jurisdiction over certain other matters, 48 U.S.C. § 1612.5 Appeals from the Territorial Court are heard by the Appellate Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands. The Appellate Division functions as an appellate tribunal for local matters until such time as the Virgin Islands legislature creates a local appellate court. See 48 U.S.C. § 1613a; 4 V.I. Code Ann. § 33.6 The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has “jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions” of the District Court when the District Court acts as a trial court and also in its capacity as the Appellate Division. 28 U.S.C. § 1291 (“The court[ ] of appeals . . . shall have jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of . . . the District Court of the Virgin Islands . . . .”); 48 U.S.C. § 1613a(c) (“The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit shall have jurisdiction of appeals from all final decisions of the district court on appeal from the courts established by local law.”). The Virgin Islands court structure, incorporating the Appellate Division of the District Court as an appellate tribunal for local law, reflects Congress’s intent to encourage “the development of a local Virgin Islands appellate structure with greater autonomy with respect to issues of Virgin Islands law.” In re Alison, 837 F.2d 619, 622 (3d Cir. 1988). The Appellate Division “represents a step” toward such an autonomous appellate structure. Id. At the same time, the Appellate Division is “not an insular 5. The District Court “retains concurrent jurisdiction with the Territorial Court over criminal actions in which the local crimes charged are related to federal crimes.” Callwood v. Enos, 230 F.3d 627, 631 (3d Cir. 2000) (explaining 48 U.S.C. § 1612(c)). 6. Appeals to the Appellate Division are heard and determined by a panel “consisting of three judges, of whom two shall constitute a quorum.” 48 U.S.C. § 1613a(b). The Chief Judge of the District Court is the presiding judge of the Appellate Division and the other judges on a panel are selected “from among the judges who are serving on, or are assigned to, the District Court.” Id. One judge on the panel “may be a judge of a court established by local law.” Id. Subject to certain restrictions, local law prescribes the appellate jurisdiction of the Appellate Division. 48 U.S.C. § 1613a(a). 6 [local] appellate court,” but is “essentially a federal creature.” BA Props. Inc. v. Gov’t of the V.I., 299 F.3d 207, 212 (3d Cir. 2002). Thus, in many contexts, we “treat[ ] appeals from the Appellate Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands no differently than appeals taken from any other federal district court.” Ortiz v. Dodge, 126 F.3d 545, 548 (3d Cir. 1997); see also BA Props., 299 F.3d at 212 (“We will . . . exercise plenary review over the Appellate Division’s order, much as we would when reviewing a district court . . . .”). It is within this context, where the Government of the Virgin Islands appeals a judgment of the Appellate Division of the District Court in a local criminal action, that we consider our jurisdiction.