GovInfo provides free public access to official publications from all three branches of the Federal Government.
Search U.S. Government Publishing Office’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications for catalog records. Many records link to the full text.
All FDLP Resource Guides are open educational resources for anyone to share, copy, and reuse.
This page provides an overview of the Federal Court system as well as definitions for some commonly used terms.
The chart above shows the three levels of courts in the U.S. Federal system. While the Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States, cases begin in the lowest courts in the chart. If a party loses at this trial level, they can appeal to one of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. If a party loses at the appellate level, they may be able to petition the Supreme Court to hear the case, but the Supreme Court only decides to hear a small number of cases each term.
The following definitions for commonly used legal terms come from Black's Law Dictionary (12th ed. 2024):
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Appellate Court | A court with jurisdiction to review decisions of lower courts or administrative agencies. Also termed appeals court; appeal court; court of appeals; court of appeal; court of review. |
| Article I Court | A federal legislative court that is not bound by the requirements of or protected under U.S. Const. art. III, § 2, and that performs functions similar to those of an administrative agency, such as issuing advisory opinions. |
| Article III Court | A federal court that, deriving its jurisdiction from U.S. Const. art. III, § 2, hears cases arising under the Constitution and the laws and treaties of the United States, cases in which the United States is a party, and cases between the states and between citizens of different states. |
| Civil Court | A court with jurisdiction over noncriminal cases. |
|
Criminal Court |
A court with jurisdiction over criminal matters. |
| District Court | A trial court having general jurisdiction within its judicial district. Under the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure, the term district court includes a bankruptcy court or a bankruptcy appellate panel. Fed. R. App. P. 6(c)(1)(B). |
|
Docket |
A formal record in which a judge or court clerk briefly notes all the proceedings and filings in a court case. Also termed judicial record; bench docket; docket sheet. |
Learn more about the
Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP)
For questions or comments, contact the FDLP Resource Guides Team at @askGPO