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Title 48, Territories and Insular PossessionsRelease 119-102

§1822 Jurisdiction of District Court; Original Jurisdiction; Procedural Requirements

Title 48 › CHAPTER 17 — NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS › SUBCHAPTER II — JUDICIAL MATTERS › § 1822

Last updated Aug 21, 2026|Official source

Summary

Gives the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands the same powers as a U.S. District Court. That includes diversity jurisdiction under section 1332 of title 28 and the powers of a U.S. bankruptcy court. Makes the district court the first court to hear any cases in the Northern Mariana Islands that local courts do not have under the Commonwealth’s Constitution or laws. If a case is in the district court only for that reason, the court is treated as a Northern Mariana Islands court for whether a grand jury indictment or a jury trial is required.

Full Legal Text

Title 48, §1822

Territories and Insular Possessions, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)The District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands shall have the jurisdiction of a District Court of the United States, including, but not limited to, the diversity jurisdiction provided for in section 1332 of title 28 and that of a bankruptcy court of the United States.
(b)The district court shall have original jurisdiction in all causes in the Northern Mariana Islands not described in subsection (a) jurisdiction over which is not vested by the Constitution or laws of the Northern Mariana Islands in a court or courts of the Northern Mariana Islands. In causes brought in the district court solely on the basis of this subsection, the district court shall be considered a court of the Northern Mariana Islands for the purposes of determining the requirements of indictment by grand jury or trial by jury.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was formerly classified to section 1694a of this title.

Amendments

1984—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–454 amended subsec. (a) generally, substituting “, including, but not limited to, the diversity jurisdiction provided for in section 1332 of title 28 and that of a bankruptcy court of the United States” for “, except that in all causes arising under the Constitution, treaties, or laws of the United States, it shall have jurisdiction regardless of the sum or value of the matter in controversy”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–454 effective on ninetieth day following Oct. 5, 1984, see section 1005 of Pub. L. 98–454, set out as a note under section 1424 of this title.

Effective Date

For

Effective Date

of this section, see section 1825 of this title and

Effective Date

of Constitution note thereunder.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

48 U.S.C. § 1822

Title 48, Territories and Insular Possessions

Last Updated

Aug 21, 2026

Release point: 119-102