United States bankruptcy court
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States Bankruptcy Court is a federal court that has subject matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases. Bankruptcy cases cannot be filed in state court. Each of the 94 federal judicial districts handles bankruptcy matters.
The bankruptcy judges in each judicial district in regular active service constitute a “unit” of the applicable United States district court (see 28 U.S.C. § 151). The bankruptcy judge is appointed for a term of 14 years by the United States court of appeals for the circuit in which the applicable district is located (see 28 U.S.C. § 152).
Technically, the United States district courts have subject matter jurisdiction over bankruptcy matters (see 28 U.S.C. § 1334(a)). However, each such district court may, by order, “refer” bankruptcy matters to the bankruptcy court (see 28 U.S.C. § 157(a)). As a practical matter, most district courts have a standing “reference” order to that effect, so that all bankruptcy cases in that district are handled, at least initially, by the bankruptcy court. In unusual circumstances, a district court may in a particular case “withdraw the reference” (i.e., take the case or a particular proceeding within the case away from the bankruptcy court and decide the matter itself) under 28 U.S.C. § 157(d).
The overwhelming majority of all proceedings in bankruptcy are held before a United States bankruptcy judge, whose decision in all matters is final, subject to appeals to the district judge or a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel ("BAP") for review of the decision.
