Northern Mariana Islands Supreme Court

(Redirected from Supreme Court of the Northern Mariana Islands) Highest court in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Guma’ Hustisia / Iimwal Aweewe / House of Justice

15°09′34″N 145°42′23″E / 15.159536°N 145.706413°E / 15.159536; 145.706413
Established	May 2, 1989 (1989-05-02)
Jurisdiction	Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Location	Susupe, Saipan, Northern Mariana Islands
Coordinates	15°09′34″N 145°42′23″E / 15.159536°N 145.706413°E / 15.159536; 145.706413
Composition method	Appointment by governor with Senate confirmation
Authorised by	Commonwealth Judicial Reorganization Act of 1989 (P.L. No. 6-25)
Appeals to	Supreme Court of the United States
Appeals from	Superior Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Number of positions	3
Website	www.nmijudiciary.gov/supremecourt
Chief Justice
Currently	Alexandro Cruz Castro
Since	2012

The Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 1 CMC § 3101, is the highest court of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), exercising civil and criminal appellate jurisdiction over commonwealth law matters. It should not be confused with the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, which exercises jurisdiction over federal law. The Supreme Court sits in the capital, Saipan, and consists of a Chief Justice and two Associate Justices. The CNMI has no intermediate appellate commonwealth law court, which means that the CNMI Supreme Court hears appeals directly from the trial-level Superior Court.

History

The Supreme Court was created by commonwealth law on May 1, 1989. This was allowed under the terms of the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, § 402(c), Act of Mar. 24, 1976, Pub. L. 94-241, 90 Stat. 263, codified as amended at 48 U.S.C. § 1801 note. The Covenant granted self-government to the CNMI, with the U.S. administering the islands under the former United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands system.

Prior to the creation of the Supreme Court, the Covenant provided that the District Court for the NMI would exercise original jurisdiction over federal law matters and appellate jurisdiction over commonwealth law matters. Covenant § 402(a) & (c). With the creation of the Supreme Court, the District Court's appellate jurisdiction was effectively eliminated. However, the Covenant provided that for 15 years following the creation of a commonwealth appellate court, appeals of that court's decisions would go to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, just as if the decision was rendered by the District Court. Covenant § 403(a). As of May 1, 2004, CNMI Supreme Court appeals can be taken directly to the United States Supreme Court, thus giving the CNMI court relative parity with the highest courts of the 50 U.S. states.

The court typically hears cases at the House of Justice (Chamorro: Guma’ Hustisia; Carolinian: Iimwal Aweewe) in Susupe; however, some cases are also heard at the Kotten Tinian in San Jose and the Rota Centron Hustisia in Sinapalo.

List of chief justices

1989–1995 Jose S. Dela Cruz – first Chief Justice and former trial judge
1995–1998 Marty Wayne Kendall Taylor – Canadian-born California deputy district attorney and CNMI trial judge
1999–2011 Miguel Sablan Demapan
2011–2012 Alexandro Cruz Castro (Acting)
2012–present Alexandro Cruz Castro

List of associate justices

1989–1993 Jesus Camacho Borja
1989–1997 Ramon Garrido Villagomez
1993–1997 Pedro Mangloña Atalig
1998–2012 Alexandro Cruz Castro
1998–1999 Miguel Sablan Demapan
2000–present John Atalig Mangloña
2013–present Perry Borja Inos

References

^ Commonwealth Judicial Reorganization Act of 1989 (PDF) (P.L. 6-25). Northern Mariana Islands Commonwealth Legislature. 1989-05-02. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
http://cnmilaw.org/pdf/cmc_section/T1/3101.pdf
"Judiciary: Northern Mariana Islands". Judiciary of the Northern Mariana Islands. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017. While the Court's decisions were initially appealable to the Ninth Circuit, beginning May 2004, the Court's decisions became reviewable only by the United States Supreme Court.
"35th Anniversary | CNMI Judiciary". The CNMI Judiciary. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
"From Colonialism to Self-Government: The Northern Marianas Experience". Jose S. Dela Cruz. Archived from the original on 2013-06-04. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
"NMI pays lavish tribute to 'big guy with a soft heart'". Saipan Tribune. 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2024-05-21.
"Former Justices | CNMI Judiciary". The CNMI Judiciary. Retrieved 2024-05-21.

External links

Official homepage of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Judiciary Archived 2017-03-09 at the Wayback Machine
Commonwealth Law Revision Commission (with text of the Covenant)
CNMI Bar Association
"Northern Mariana Islands", Caselaw Access Project, Harvard Law School, OCLC 1078785565, Court decisions freely available to the public online, in a consistent format, digitized from the collection of the Harvard Law Library

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