Opinion ID: 559587
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Reviewability of the Section 305 Order to Abstain

Text: 8 In our recent opinion in Parklane v. Parklane, 927 F.2d 532, 538 (11th Cir.1991), we determined that an Article I bankruptcy court may not issue an unreviewable section 305 order to dismiss or, alternatively, to abstain from jurisdiction over a bankruptcy case. 4 This Court noted that original jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases is vested in Article III courts and that bankruptcy courts obtain jurisdiction only at the discretion of the district court. Id.; see also 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1334(a), (b) and 28 U.S.C. Secs. 151 & 157. In view of the Supreme Court's decision in Northern Pipeline Constr. Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co., 458 U.S. 50, 102 S.Ct. 2858, 73 L.Ed.2d 598 (1982), we ruled that permitting a bankruptcy court to issue an unreviewable section 305 order dismissing or suspending a district court's jurisdiction over a bankruptcy case would violate Article III of the Constitution by impermissibly placing the jurisdiction of an Article III court within the unreviewable discretion of an Article I court. The appellees' briefs have raised no new arguments which would suggest that this conclusion was incorrect. 9 In fact, Congress' recent amendment to section 305 supports this Court's ruling in Parklane. Section 305(c) now states, in part, that an order under this section dismissing a case or suspending all proceedings in a case, or a decision not so to dismiss or suspend, is not reviewable by appeal or otherwise by the court of appeals under section 157(d), 1291, or 1292 of this title or by the Supreme Court of the United States under section 1254 of this title. Federal Courts Study Committee Implementation Act of 1990, Pub.L. 101-650, Sec. 309, 104 Stat. 5113 (Dec. 1, 1990) (amendment in italics). 5 By omitting any reference to the district courts in the amendment, Congress limited only the jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court to review a bankruptcy court's section 305 order, but not the jurisdiction of the district court to review such an order. See In re Axona Int'l Credit & Commerce Ltd., 924 F.2d 31 (2nd Cir.1991). 10