Access to Courts in the United States

The availability of the judicial process to respond to cases. A person’s access to court is governed by several factors. The first, of course, is jurisdiction. Jurisdiction defines a court’s power to act. Access can only occur where a court possesses proper authority to hear a controversy. Second, courts cannot be accessed unless justiciability requirements are met. That is, courts can withhold power from those situations where standing does not exist or where the issue is more appropriately addressed by another governmental branch. Third, organizational structure and caseload directly affect access. The structure of a court system establishes entry points. Some structures facilitate access while others do not. For example, if a court system has only a single general jurisdiction court at the trial level, access may be limited. Similarly, if case volume is heavy and the court system has too few judges, cases will accumulate. Docket backlog delays and possibly discourages access.

See Also

Delay (Civil Process) Jurisdiction (Civil Process) Justiciable Issue (Civil Process) Standing (Civil Process).

Analysis and Relevance

The factors that influence access to courts are technical, structural, and environmental. The technical factors establish threshold conditions. Besides jurisdiction and justiciability issues, access can be formally restricted by statute or court decision. For example, the abstention doctrine directs federal courts not to assume jurisdiction over a case being tried in state courts unless an extraordinary federal question is involved. Similarly, federal class actions were limited by the court in Eisen v. Carlisle & Jacquelin (417 U.S. 156: 1974) to those situations where direct injury to individual class members exists. Structural factors also govern access. Legislatures that establish state court systems can encourage access by creating sufficient points of entry or judges of sufficient numbers to allow adequate response to case demand. For example, states that designate a particular court to handle small claims as a separate docket issue facilitate access for these matters. Finally, access is a function of such environmental factors as backlog. Even if the technical criteria are met, parties are discouraged from commencing civil cases if it is likely that they must wait in excess of three years to reach trial.

Notes and References

1. Definition of Access to Courts from the American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

Access to Courts

Access to Courts (Prisoner Rights)

This section introduces, discusses and describes the basics of access to courts. Then, cross references and a brief overview about Prisoner Rights is provided. Finally, the subject of Civil Rights Law in relation with access to courts is examined. Note that a list of cross references, bibliography and other resources appears at the end of this entry.

Resources

Further Reading

• Confidentiality and the Courts: Preserving Judicial Discretion, Conlon, Suzanne B., 76: 304-307, 313 (Apr.-May '93, AJS Judicature)
• Confidentiality and the Courts: Protecting the Right to Privacy, Burkholder, Evan A., 76: 311-313 (Apr.-May '93, AJS Judicature)
• Confidentiality and the Courts: Secrecy's Threat To Public Safety, Reed, Charles J., 76: 308-310 (Apr.-May '93, AJS Judicature)
• Gender and racial fairness in the courts (editorial), Editorial, AJS, 77: 64, 65 (Sep.-Oct. '93, AJS Judicature)
• Interactive Computer Helps Arizona Court Users, Author, No, 78: 158 (Nov.-Dec. '94, AJS Judicature)
• Law School and Professional Responsibility: The Impact of Legal Education on Public Interest Practice, Stover, Robert V., 66: 194-206 (Nov. '82, AJS Judicature)
• Program helps reduce backlog in Philadelphia (focus), Bernstein, Mark I., 80: 196-197 (Jan.-Feb. '97, AJS Judicature)