This report is about the court system in Pennsylvania which is my home state. In regard to the Appellate courts in Pennsylvania, there is one Supreme Court that is headed by a Chief justice who conducts his sessions at Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Philadelphia. There are seven Appellate Court justices who are authorized and serving while there are 24 intermediate appellate court justices in the same context. There are 386 trial court judges of general jurisdiction, 25 judges of limited jurisdiction at the Philadelphia Municipal Court and 549 of the same level at the District Justice Court, 7 at the Philadelphia Traffic Court and 6 judges act as Pittsburgh City Magistrates. The selection of Appellate Court Justices for unexpired term is done by gubernatorial appointment with approval from the senate for selection for full term and it is done by partisan election. All such appointments are for the jurisdiction of the entire state based on the system of retention election. In regard to the terms of the Appellate Court Judges, their length of terms for Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court are 10 years in all cases. Selection of Supreme Court Judges is by rotation on the basis of seniority while for Superior Court and Commonwealth Court it is by court selection. The terms of office for all the categories are 5 years and the judges cannot succeed themselves. In regard to qualifications to serve as an Appellate Court Judge, aspirants must be resident in the state for at least one year, there is mo minimum age requirement but it should not exceed 70 years. They must have legal credentials in being members of the state bar.
In regard to trial court judges, the selection is done by gubernatorial appointment for the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia Municipality, District Justice Court, Philadelphia Traffic and Pittsburgh City magistrates. The method of selection of judges is my partisan election and they are selected for the respective counties. To serve as a trial court judge, aspirants must be residents of the state for at least one year, there is no minimum age but it should not exceed 70 years. They must have a degree in law and be members of the state bar. In Pennsylvania the Office of General Council for Governor and Judicial Advisory Commission are authorized to act as the Commission for the purpose vide Executive Order 1995-1 dated 2/27/95. For general jurisdiction judges it is essential to have pre bench education of minimum 40 hours as funded by the state while continuing education is not a must for them. For limited jurisdiction judges also it is essential to have pre bench education of at least 160 hours which is to be funded by the state. For appellate court judges it is not necessary to have any pre bench education or experience. The judicial performance evaluation is not done in the state and the Judicial Enquiry and Review Board is the investigating body to maintain judicial discipline in being the investigating and adjudicating body for the state. The Supreme Court is the head of the judicial branch and such authority is vested with it by the constitution vide PA Const Article V 10. The rule making authority of courts of last resort are defined by statutory and constitutional means and the Supreme Court enacts the rules to ensure the effective and efficient administration of justice. The Judicial Council of Pennsylvania is authorized by the Supreme to study the administration of justice and make recommendations to the Supreme Court on matters referred by courts and has 27 members who have a term of 3 years. The administration office of the courts prepares and submits the annual judicial branch budget to the legislature and executive branch for the period July to June.
References
David B Rottman, State Court Organization, 1998. Web.