Judicial Conference of the United States
The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial courts in the United States. The Conference derives its authority from 28 U.S.C. § 331, which states that it is headed by the chief justice of the United States and consists of the chief justice, the chief judge of each court of appeals federal regional circuit, a district court judge from various federal judicial districts, and the chief judge of the United States Court of International Trade.[1]
Five standing Advisory Committees of the Judicial Conference have been established, and are charged, respectively, with drafting proposed amendments to the:
Members of the Advisory Committees include judges, representatives from the Department of Justice, law professors, and practicing attorneys. The Advisory Committees propose rules, subject them to public comment, and then submit them to the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, which in turn submits them to the Judicial Conference, which recommends them to the Supreme Court for approval. Explanatory notes of the drafting Advisory Committee are published along with the final adopted rules, and are frequently used as an authority on the interpretation of the rules.
Other active policy areas concern the operation of CM/ECF, the Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, and PACER, the electronic public access service for United States federal court documents.
On occasion, the Conference has authorized investigations of federal judges accused of criminal malfeasance. Those deemed guilty have been referred to the House Judiciary Committee for impeachment. This has happened three times during the 21st century.
Judicial councils[edit]
Judicial councils are panels of each federal judicial circuit that are charged with making "necessary and appropriate orders for the effective and expeditious administration of justice" within their circuits.[4][5] Among their responsibilities is judicial discipline, the formulation of circuit policy, the implementation of policy directives received from the Judicial Conference, and the annual submission of a report to the Administrative Office on the number and nature of orders entered during the year that relate to judicial misconduct.[6][5] Each judicial circuit consists of the chief judge of the circuit and an equal number of circuit judges and district judges of the circuit.[7]