Procedures
FSM Supreme Court trial and appellate divisions beside four state hierarchies
The FSM Supreme Court has trial and appellate divisions and hears national and diversity matters. State courts handle land, most civil claims and ordinary crime.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — Parallel hierarchies. The FSM Supreme Court sits nationally with divisions, and each state has its own court system with its own final appellate court.
Governing law
- Constitution of the FSM 1979 (art. XI (judicial power))
- FSM Code, title 4judiciary
- FSM Rules of Civil Procedure
- State court rules of Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and Yap
In practice
Article XI vests judicial power in the FSM Supreme Court, which unusually contains both a trial division and an appellate division of the same court, with appeals heard by justices who did not try the case. Its jurisdiction covers national law, disputes between states, admiralty and cases where parties are of different citizenship, echoing US federal diversity jurisdiction. Everything else, including land, belongs to the state courts, whose decisions are final within the state on state-law questions. The FSM Rules of Civil Procedure follow United States federal practice, so pleading, discovery and motions will be familiar to US practitioners and unfamiliar to those trained in England-derived Pacific procedure. Article V requires courts to consider custom and tradition, and the Supreme Court has developed a body of authority on when customary evidence must be taken. Geography drives delay: judges travel between islands, and hearings are scheduled around shipping and flights.