28 U.S.C. § 292 | District judges

(a)

The chief judge of a circuit may designate and assign one or more district judges within the circuit to sit upon the court of appeals or a division thereof whenever the business of that court so requires. Such designations or assignments shall be in conformity with the rules or orders of the court of appeals of the circuit.

(b)

The chief judge of a circuit may, in the public interest, designate and assign temporarily any district judge of the circuit to hold a district court in any district within the circuit.

(c)

The chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit may, upon presentation of a certificate of necessity by the chief judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia pursuant to section 11–908(c) of the District of Columbia Code, designate and assign temporarily any district judge of the circuit to serve as a judge of such Superior Court, if such assignment (1) is approved by the Attorney General of the United States following a determination by him to the effect that such assignment is necessary to meet the ends of justice, and (2) is approved by the chief judge of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

(d)

The Chief Justice of the United States may designate and assign temporarily a district judge of one circuit for service in another circuit, either in a district court or court of appeals, upon presentation of a certificate of necessity by the chief judge or circuit justice of the circuit wherein the need arises.

(e)

The Chief Justice of the United States may designate and assign temporarily any district judge to serve as a judge of the Court of International Trade upon presentation to him of a certificate of necessity by the chief judge of the court.

June 25, 1948, ch. 646 62 Stat. 901 July 28, 1953, ch. 253, § 3 67 Stat. 226 Sept. 3, 1954, ch. 1263, § 39(c)68 Stat. 1240 July 9, 1956, ch. 517, § 1(b)70 Stat. 497 July 14, 1956, ch. 589, § 2 70 Stat. 532 Pub. L. 85–755, § 3Aug. 25, 195872 Stat. 848 Pub. L. 91–358, title I, § 172(e)July 29, 197084 Stat. 591 Pub. L. 95–598, title IINov. 6, 197892 Stat. 2660 Pub. L. 96–417, title V, § 501(7)Oct. 10, 198094 Stat. 1742 Pub. L. 97–164, title I, § 109Apr. 2, 198296 Stat. 28(, ; , ; , ; , ; , ; , , ; , , ; , §§ 203, 204, , ; , , ; , , .)

Historical and Revision Notes

Mar. 3, 1911, ch. 231 36 Stat. 1089 Sept. 14, 1922, ch. 306, § 3 42 Stat. 839 Aug. 24, 1937, ch. 754, § 4 50 Stat. 753 Dec. 29, 1942, ch. 835, § 1 56 Stat. 1094Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., §§ 17, 21 and 216 (, §§ 13, 17, 120, , 1132; , ; , ; , ).

Section consolidates and simplifies all provisions of sections 17, 21 and 216 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., relating to designation and assignment of district judges.

section 136 of this titleTerm “chief judge” was substituted for “senior circuit judge.” (See Reviser’s Note under .)

section 45 of this titleSections 17 and 21 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., were inconsistent insofar as the words “or in his absence, the circuit judges thereof,” appearing in said section 17 were not in section 21, and the words “senior circuit judge then present in the circuit,” appearing in section 21 were not in section 17. The revised section omits all such words and leaves designation of assignment to the chief judge of the circuit. If the chief judge is unable to perform his duties they devolve, under , upon the circuit judge next in seniority of commission.

The provision of said section 17, that designation of a district judge to another circuit should be from an adjacent circuit if practicable, was omitted as an unnecessary restriction on the discretion of the Chief Justice.

Section 19 of title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., is omitted as unnecessary. It authorized the Chief Justice of the United States to designate and assign any district judge to a district upon receiving a certificate from the clerk of the district that all circuit judges and the circuit justice were absent from the circuit, or were unable to appoint a substitute judge for the district,or where the district judge actually designated was disabled or neglected to hold court.

section 291 of this titleFor omission of reference in said section 17 to senior Associate Justice, see reviser’s note under .

section 294 of this titleReference in said section 17 to retired judges were omitted as covered by .

section 17 of title 28Other provisions of said , U.S.C., 1940 ed., are incorporated in sections 291, 295, and 296 of this title. Other provisions of said section 216 of such title are incorporated in sections 45 and 47 of this title.

Words “either in a district court or court of appeals” were inserted in subsection (c) as suggested by Hon. Learned Hand, Senior Circuit Judge of the Second Circuit. The revised section permits a district judge to be assigned directly to the circuit court of appeals of another circuit. Under existing law it has been assumed that he must be assigned to serve as a district judge on the other circuit and then designated to serve on the circuit court of appeals by that court in which his services are required.

Many changes were made in phraseology.

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 97–1641982—Subsec. (e). struck out “the Court of Claims, the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals or” after “to serve as a judge of” and “in which the need arises” after “chief judge of the court”.

Pub. L. 96–4171980—Subsec. (e). redesignated the Customs Court as the Court of International Trade.

Pub. L. 95–598 section 402(b) of Pub. L. 95–598 section 101 of Title 111978—Subsecs. (b), (d). directed the amendment of subsec. (b) by substituting “to hold a district court or a bankruptcy court” for “to hold a district court” and the amendment of subsec. (d) by substituting “in a bankruptcy court, district court, or court of appeals” for “either in a district court or court of appeals”, which amendments did not become effective pursuant to , as amended, set out as an Effective Date note preceding , Bankruptcy.

Pub. L. 91–3581970—Subsecs. (c) to (e). added subsec. (c) and redesignated former subsecs. (c) and (d) as (d) and (e), respectively.

Pub. L. 85–7551958—Subsecs. (a) to (c). reenacted subsecs. (a) to (c) without change.

Pub. L. 85–755 section 293 of this titleSubsec. (d). incorporated provisions for assignment of district judges to the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the Customs Court, formerly contained in and subsec. (f) of this section.

Pub. L. 85–755 section 293(a) of this titleSubsec. (e). struck out subsec. (e) which provided for assignment of judges of the Court of Claims to district courts. See .

Pub. L. 85–755Subsec. (f). struck out subsec. (f) which provided for assignment of district judges to the Customs Court. See subsec. (d) of this section.

July 9, 19561956—Subsec. (e). Act , added subsec. (e).

July 14, 1956Subsec. (f). Act , added subsec. (f).

Sept. 3, 19541954—Subsec. (d). Act , struck out “United States” from name of Court of Claims.

July 28, 19531953—Subsec. (d). Act , added subsec. (d).

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 1982 Amendment

Pub. L. 97–164Oct. 1, 1982section 402 of Pub. L. 97–164 section 171 of this titleAmendment by effective , see , set out as a note under .

Effective Date of 1980 Amendment

Pub. L. 96–417Nov. 1, 1980section 701(a) of Pub. L. 96–417 section 251 of this titleAmendment by effective , and applicable with respect to civil actions pending on or commenced on or after such date, see , set out as a note under .

Effective Date of 1970 Amendment

Pub. L. 91–358July 29, 1970section 199(a) of Pub. L. 91–358 section 1257 of this titleAmendment by effective on first day of seventh calendar month which begins after , see , set out as a note under .

Jurisdiction of United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals

Pub. L. 85–755 section 7 of Pub. L. 85–755 section 291 of this titleAmendment by not limiting or altering the jurisdiction of the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals [now United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit], see , set out as a note under .

Limitation or Alteration of Jurisdiction

July 14, 1956July 14, 1956section 251 of this titleAmendment by act , not to be construed as limiting or altering the jurisdiction heretofore conferred upon the Customs Court [now United States Court of International Trade], see section 4 of act , set out as a note under .