Why It Matters
Congressional oversight of federal court procedure sits at the center of a Congressional Research Service report titled “Congress, the Judiciary, and Federal Court Procedure,” which was updated on September 16. The stakes are practical because procedural rules govern how parties present cases and how courts decide them. A party can prevail or lose based not only on the substance of its claims but also on whether it follows the applicable procedures.
The Big Picture
The statute covers six sets of rules: civil procedure, criminal procedure, appellate procedure, evidence, bankruptcy procedure, and the Rules of the Supreme Court. Most amendments originate with standing committees of the Judicial Conference, which places the initial development of many changes within the judiciary’s rulemaking process. The Supreme Court must transmit proposed amendments to Congress by May 1 of the year they are scheduled to take effect. Unless Congress enacts legislation to reject, modify, or delay them, the amendments take effect automatically.
Congress can also act outside that process by directly amending procedural rules or enacting statutes that govern federal court procedures.
The Bottom Line
Procedural rules may be classified as either jurisdictional rules or claim-processing rules. Jurisdictional provisions limit a court’s adjudicatory authority, while claim-processing provisions require specified steps at specified times. Judges may modify claim-processing requirements, but they may not alter or waive jurisdictional limits.
A rule’s classification may depend on its source.
Lower federal courts may prescribe their own procedural rules after public notice and comment, provided those rules are consistent with applicable statutes and rules promulgated by the Supreme Court. Congress has also considered regulation of the Supreme Court itself, including its non-merits docket, its Code of Conduct, and the Constitution’s Exceptions Clause.
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