United States Federal Court of Appeal

	United States
	Federal Court of Appeal

Federal Court of Appeal of the United States
Seal
Established	December 5, 1733
Country	United States of North Aegea
Location	9 Circuits (Territories in italics) Southwest Circuit (10)  Arizona Colorado Nevada New Mexico Utah California Hawaiʻi Aegean Samoa Guam N. Mariana Islands Northwest Circuit (6)  Alaska Idaho Montana Wyoming Oregon Washington South Circuit (4)  Arkansas Louisiana Oklahoma Texas Southeast Circuit (7)  Alabama Florida Georgia Mississippi South Carolina Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands Northeast Circuit (11)  Pennsylvania Connecticut Delaware Maine Maryland Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York Rhode Island Vermont Appalachia Circuit (5)  Kentucky North Carolina Tennessee West Virginia Virginia Midwest Circuit (4)  Kansas Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota Mideast Circuit (8)  Indiana Iowa Missouri Ohio Illinois Michigan Minnesota Wisconsin Federal Circuit (5)  Fœderal Capital Territory Chicago F.D. Columbia F.D. New Amsterdam F.D. Philadelphia F.D.
Composition method	Nominated and, by and with the Advice and Consent of the U.S. Senate, appointed by the Governor-General
Authorized by	U.S. Const., art. II-D ↳ Judiciary Act, 1733
Decisions are appealed to	U.S. Supreme Court
Judge term length	During good behavior
Number of positions	Varies by Circuit
Circuits (9)
Circuits (8) Southwest Northwest South Southeast Northeast Appalachia Midwest Mideast Special Circuits (1) Federal
Website
link://fca.courts.usna.gov

The United States Federal Court of Appeal, officially the Federal Court of Appeal of the United States, is an intermediate federal-level Court in the United States that hears cases on appeal from the Federal Court and Territorial supreme Courts.

While established as a unitary court, the Federal Court of Appeal is divided into nine divisions called “Circuits” –the divisions being conterminous with groupings of States and Territories, with the States within each Circuit being granted preeminent status under the Judiciary Act of 1733. However, the Fœderal Capital Territory, which is assigned to the Federal Circuit, is the only Territory to be granted preeminent status within its Circuit (as there are no States assigned to the Federal Circuit), presiding over the Federal Dependencies of Chicago, Columbia, New Amsterdam, and Philadelphia.

Jurisdiction

The Federal Court of Appeal has no inherent jurisdiction; instead, its authority stems entirely from statute. The Court’s jurisdiction include appeals of federal Cases involving matters arising from Federal legislation such as those relating to Federal taxation, interstate trade practices, intellectual property, naturalization and bankruptcy.

This Court also has the power to interpret the Constitution, but only within the confines of the Cases or Controversies that come before it. Furthermore, the Decisions of each Circuit of the Federal Court of Appeal are always made en banc and are only binding within that Circuit’s geographical area: Decisions made by one Circuit are not legally binding in or on any of the other Circuits.

Parties to Cases or Controversies decided by the Federal Court of Appeal (regardless of Circuit) may petition their Case to be reviewed by the Supreme Court of the United States: However, the Supreme Court is not required to hear any Case or Controversy outside of its original jurisdiction.