The New United States Claims Court

Effective October 1, 1982, after a life span of approximately 117 years, the existence of the United States Court of Claims was terminated by the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982. This article discusses the new Claims Court, starting with a discussion of its jurisdiction in Section II. Section III then elaborates on the procedure of the claims court, including: assignment of cases, place of trial, rules of evidence, pre-trial procedures, discovery, trial, oral argument, and post-trial procedure. Then Section IV explains the appeals process for cases decided in the Claims Court, and Section V finishes with a discussion of the improvements and shortcomings of the Federal Courts Improvement Act which gave rise to the new Claims Court