The Role and Functions of Law

Role and Functions of Law Paper

James W Moore

ETH/321

October 7, 2015

There are a few differences that the federal court system and the state court system have, the main one is jurisdiction. Starting with the Federal courts, there jurisdiction is restricted by the types of cases that are outlined and defined by the Constitution. These include cases where the U.S is named as a party, cases that involve violations of the Constitution or any federal laws, cases between citizens of different states, citizens of a state and a citizen of a foreign country, bankruptcy, patent and maritime cases.

State courts on the other hand, generally have a wider range in jurisdiction, which generally involves cases were are related to individual citizens, such as criminal, civil, contract disputes, traffic violations, and disputes between families. It’s worth noting that some of the cases that that are generally fall under the jurisdiction of the federal courts, can also extend to state court too, such as criminal, bankruptcy, patent, copyright, and some maritime cases.

The South Carolina judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court, the court of appeals, and the circuit court. There are also numerous trial courts of limited jurisdiction, organized into family, probate, equity, magistrate, and municipal courts. South Carolina is one of only two states whose legislature is responsible for selecting judges. In the mid-1990s, all five Supreme Court justices and more than half of circuit court judges had served in the general assembly before being elected to the bench

The courts of law to review the actions of the executive and legislative branches is called judicial review. The judicial review is normally the Supreme Court, which it has all of the authority over