Opinion ID: 608088
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Civil Jurisdiction of the Virgin Islands Courts

Text: 14 Congress enacted the first Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands in 1936. Act of June 22, 1936, ch. 699, 49 Stat. 1807 (repealed 1954). Because this Act was not comprehensive, Congress enacted the Revised Organic Act of 1954 [hereinafter Revised Organic Act], Act of July 22, 1954, ch. 558, 68 Stat. 497 (codified as amended at 48 U.S.C. §§ 1541 et seq. (1988)), which operated to repeal the 1936 Act. See Virgo Corp., 384 F.2d at 576-78. 15 The fundamental enabling provision for the jurisdiction of the District Court of the Virgin Islands was located in section 1612 of the Revised Organic Act. Section 1612 vested the District Court of the Virgin Islands with the jurisdiction of a District Court of the United States, in all causes arising under the Constitution, treaties and laws of the United States, regardless of the sum or value of the matter in controversy, and general original jurisdiction over all other matters in the Virgin Islands, subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the local courts of the Virgin Islands over civil actions wherein the amount in controversy is less than $500. 2 Act of July 22, 1954, ch. 558, §§ 22-23, 68 Stat. 506 (amended 1978, 1984). Section 1612 also defined the appellate role of the District Court of the Virgin Islands and contained a transfer provision through which the District Court could transfer an action from the Territorial Court to itself, if in the interests of justice to do so. Act of July 22, 1954, ch. 558, § 22, 68 Stat. 506 (amended 1978, 1984). 3 16 In 1984, Congress rewrote Section 1612, designating the existing provision subsection (a) and adding subsections (b) and (c), thereby modifying the jurisdiction of the District Court. Act of October 5, 1984, Pub.L. 98-454, Title VII, § 703(a), Title X, § 1001, 98 Stat. 1738, 1745 (codified at 48 U.S.C. § 1612(a)-(c) (1988)). Subsection (a) of section 1612 establishes the basic jurisdictional foundation of the District Court. It reads: 17 The District Court of the Virgin Islands 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. The District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all criminal and civil proceedings in the Virgin Islands with respect to the income tax laws applicable to the Virgin Islands, regardless of the degree of the offense or of the amount involved, except the ancillary laws relating to the income tax enacted by the legislature of the Virgin Islands. Any act or failure to act with respect to the income tax laws applicable to the Virgin Islands which would constitute a criminal offense described in chapter 75 of subtitle F of Title 26 shall constitute an offense against the government of the Virgin Islands and may be prosecuted in the name of the government of the Virgin Islands by the appropriate officers thereof in the District Court of the Virgin Islands without the request or the consent of the United States attorney for the Virgin Islands, notwithstanding the provisions of 1617 of this title. 18 48 U.S.C. § 1612(a) (1988). Subsection (b) provides in relevant part: 19 In addition to the jurisdiction described in subsection (a) of this section [essentially federal question and diversity jurisdiction,] the District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have general original jurisdiction in all causes in the Virgin Islands the jurisdiction over which is not then vested by local law in the local courts of the Virgin Islands: Provided, That the jurisdiction of the District Court of the Virgin Islands under this subsection shall not extend to civil actions wherein the matter in controversy does not exceed the sum or value of $500, exclusive of interests and costs.... 20 48 U.S.C. § 1612(b) (1988) (emphasis in original). 4 21 Congress' addition of subsection (b) to section 1612 of the Revised Organic Act further modified the jurisdictional scope of the Virgin Islands courts, but the extent to which the amendment affected the status quo was unclear from face of the statute. In January of 1991, however, this court decided Estate of Thomas Mall, Inc. v. Territorial Ct. of V.I., 923 F.2d 258 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 112 S.Ct. 50, 116 L.Ed.2d 28 (1991), which interpreted the effect of the 1984 amendments to section 1612 on the jurisdiction of the Virgin Islands courts. 22 The first issue before us in Estate of Thomas Mall, Inc., was the extent to which the District Court's concurrent jurisdiction could be divested by operation of section 1612(b) of the Revised Organic Act. We analyzed section 1612(b) in conjunction with section 1611(b) of the Revised Organic Act, which Congress also amended in 1984. Section 1611(b) reads in relevant part: 23 The legislature of the Virgin Islands may vest in the courts of the Virgin Islands established by local law jurisdiction over all causes in the Virgin Islands over which any court established by the Constitution and the laws of the United States does not have exclusive jurisdiction. Such jurisdiction shall be subject to the concurrent jurisdiction conferred on the District Court of the Virgin Islands by section 1612(a) [federal question and diversity jurisdiction] and (c) [criminal jurisdiction] of this title. 24 48 U.S.C. § 1611(b) (1988). 25 We interpreted section 1611(b) as empowering the Virgin Islands legislature to create in the local courts concurrent jurisdiction with the District Court over both federal questions and certain criminal actions. We concluded that its ultimate intention was to divest the District Court of jurisdiction over local causes of action: 26 [In other words,] concurrent jurisdiction may exist with respect to federal question jurisdiction, [diversity jurisdiction] and certain criminal actions, but not over local actions which are described in section 1612(b). 27 Estate of Thomas Mall, Inc., 923 F.2d at 262. We also concluded, however, that the exercise of the power conferred by section 1611(b) did not itself divest the District Court of jurisdiction in these areas by the application of section 1612(b). More specifically, addressing the question on whether section 1612(b) is self-executing, or whether the section requires legislation to effect its purpose, we held that section 1612(b) does not ex proprio vigore 5 divest the District Court of jurisdiction over local actions. By examining the language not then vested by local law in the local courts, we concluded that [s]uch divestment will not occur until the Virgin Islands legislature enacts a law which effects the power created by the 1984 amendments, Estate of Thomas Mall, Inc., 923 F.2d at 264, i.e., until the legislature vested jurisdiction of local actions in the local courts. 28 The Virgin Islands legislature took such action on September 5, 1990, when it enacted Local Law No. 5594 as an amendment to 4 V.I.Code § 76(a). Section 76(a) reads in pertinent part: 29 Subject to the original jurisdiction conferred on the District Court by section [1612] of the Revised Organic Act of 1954, as amended, effective October 1, 1991, the Territorial Court shall have original jurisdiction in all civil actions regardless of the amount in controversy.... 30 4 V.I.Code § 76(a) (Supp.1991). In accordance with our holding in Estate of Thomas Mall, Inc., this section divests the District Court of the Virgin Islands of jurisdiction over all local civil actions, but does not divest the District Court of its federal question and diversity jurisdiction in civil actions, as evidenced by the provisional language at the beginning of the statute. Therefore, the Territorial Court's original jurisdiction over all local civil actions is subject to the District Court's concurrent federal question and diversity jurisdiction in section 1612(a) of the Revised Organic Act. 31 In summary, the present state of the jurisdiction of the Virgin Islands courts in civil matters is as follows: 32 (1) The District Court of the Virgin Islands has exclusive jurisdiction over all civil proceedings in the Virgin Islands regarding the income tax laws applicable to the Virgin Islands, and all other civil proceedings over which a United States District Court has exclusive jurisdiction, as ordained by Congress, 48 U.S.C. § 1612(a) (1988), see, e.g., 28 U.S.C. § 1333 (1988) (admiralty, maritime and prize cases); 28 U.S.C. § 1334 (Supp.1988) (cases under Title 11--bankruptcy); 28 U.S.C. § 1338 (1988) (patent, copyright and trade-mark cases). 33 (2) The District Court of the Virgin Islands has the original federal question and diversity jurisdiction conferred upon it by section 1612(a) of the Revised Organic Act, 48 U.S.C. § 1612(a) (1988), and shares this jurisdiction concurrently with the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands, 48 U.S.C. §§ 1611(b), 1612(b) (1988); and 34 (3) The Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands has original jurisdiction over all local civil actions regardless of the amount in controversy, 4 V.I.Code § 76(a) (Supp.1991), and exclusive jurisdiction as enumerated in section 1612(b) of the Revised Organic Act, 48 U.S.C. § 1612(b) (1988) (civil actions wherein the amount in controversy does not exceed $500). 35