The Supreme Court of the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 1 CMC § 3101, is the highest court of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
Commonwealth of the
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
(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
The District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands (in case citations, D. N. Mar. I.) is a federal territorial court whose jurisdiction comprises the United States-affiliated Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It was establi ...
, 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.
__NOTOC__
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 (“Covenant”), § 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
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
The Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI) was a United Nations trust territory in Micronesia administered by the United States from 1947 to 1994.
History
Spain initially claimed the islands that later composed the territory of the Trus ...
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
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts:
* District ...
, 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
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, thus giving the CNMI court relative parity with the
highest courts of the 50
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
s.
List of Chief Justices
* 1989–1995
Jose Santos 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
See also
*
Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands
Politics of the Northern Mariana Islands takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic system, whereby the Governor is head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. The Northern Mariana Islands is an unin ...
References
External links
Official homepage of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands Judiciary
Commonwealth Law Revision Commission(with text of the Covenant)
CNMI Bar Association*
{{authority control
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI; ch, Sankattan Siha Na Islas Mariånas; cal, Commonwealth Téél Falúw kka Efáng llól Marianas), is an unincorporated territory and commonw ...
Supreme Court
Northern Mariana Islands law
1980s establishments in the Northern Mariana Islands
Courts and tribunals established in 1989