Organizacija krivičnog sudstva u SAD
Organization of Criminal Justice in the USA

Author(s): Goran P. Ilić
Subject(s): Constitutional Law, Criminal Law
Published by: Institut za uporedno pravo
Keywords: Common law; continental criminal procedure; Anglo-American criminal procedure; federalism; courts; the US Supreme court
Summary/Abstract: Difficulties which criminal procedure legislation of the European continental countries are encountering have triggered their legislators to look for solutions in the comparative Anglo-American legal system. However, in the course of introduction of new procedural solutions insufficient attention is paid to understanding of the character and organization of the foreign justice system, role perceptions of parties to the proceedings and leading views on the goals of criminal procedure. Reform of the criminal procedure can be initiated only if there is sufficient knowledge of the organization and competences of courts which deal with criminal cases. Analysis of the organization of criminal justice system in the US therefore assumes adequate examination of reception of the common law system and dilemmas arising from it, especially in the light of adoption of the federal Constitution. Special attention is paid to the American understanding of federalism which represents a decisive factor in the organization of American law. Federalism is a symbol of freedom of American citizens and a confirmation that they are in charge of local governance, while governance processes at other levels are of indirect character. In accordance with this view, three levels of governance can be distinguished: local, state and federal. The understanding of concept of federalism had also a decisive impact on the organization of court network in the USA. The key feature of the court system is an existence of parallelism between the courts which exist in each federal state and the federal court system. Due to specificities of court organization in each federal state it is difficult to draw some common characteristics, except for existence of three instances: first, appellate and the highest. It is also possible to differentiate between three levels within the federal court system. County courts are deciding in the first instance, the second instance is in competence of appellate courts, while the highest court is the US Supreme Court. Analysis of the judicial competences in criminal cases demonstrates that judicial decision making, especially before lower courts, is seriously criticized, from the standpoint of guarantees of a fair trial. Furthermore, in the proceedings upon legal remedies there are some solutions which are not known in the continental legal system. One of them is the discretionary authority of the Supreme Court to decide whether it would take a certain case into consideration.

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