History of the V. I. Judiciary

The Virgin Islands judiciary evolved from three (3) Police Courts which existed pursuant to the 1921 Codes of St. Thomas & St. John and St. Croix, one for St. Thomas & St. John and two for St. Croix. On July 22, 1954, the United States Congress approved The Revised Organic Act of the Virgin Islands, and section 21 vested the judicial power in a Court of record to be designated the “District Court of the Virgin Islands.” Thereafter, the three (3) Police Courts were abolished and two (2) municipal Courts were established: the Municipal Court of St. Thomas and St. John, and the Municipal Court of St. Croix.

After a decade of this judicial structure, the composition of the local judiciary changed again in 1965. Legislative enactments which became effective on March 1, 1965, consolidated the two municipal Courts into one unified Court designated as the “Municipal Court of the Virgin Islands.” By further enactments of the Virgin Islands Legislature, on September 9, 1976, pursuant to Act No. 3876, Section 5, Sess. L. 1976, p. 17, the Municipal Court of the Virgin Islands’ name was changed to the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands, the antecedent to the current Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, which name change occurred in 2004 by Act 6687. Almost three decades later, authorized by the 1984 amendments to the Revised Organic Act of 1954, and pursuant to enactments in Title 4 V.I. Code Ann. Section 76(a), effective October 1, 1991, the Territorial Court obtained original jurisdiction over all local civil actions. Effective January 1, 1994, pursuant to Act No. 5890, the Virgin Islands Legislature granted expanded jurisdiction in criminal matters to the Territorial Court.

In 1984, the United State Congress amended the Revised Organic Act of 1954 to permit the Virgin Islands Legislature to create a local appellate court whose justices could be nominated by the Governor of the Virgin Islands subject to confirmation by the Virgin Islands Legislature. However, since the Legislature did not immediately create the local appellate court authorized by the 1984 amendments to the Revised Organic Act, two federal courts—the District Court of the Virgin Islands, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit—continued to review all judgments issued by the then-Territorial Court. On September 30, 2004, Bill 25-0213, which was sponsored by then senator Carlton “Ital” Dowe to establish the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands, was adopted by a unanimous vote of the member of the 26th Legislature, and signed into law by Governor, Charles W. Turnbull on October 29, 2004, as Act No. 6687. This pivotal Legislation also changed the name of the Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands to the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands. Governor Turnbull appointed the first three justices to preside over the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands— Chief Justice Rhys S. Hodge, and Associate Justices Maria M. Cabret and Ive Arlington Swan. All three justices were unanimously confirmed by the Virgin Islands Legislature on October 27, 2006, and sworn into office on December 18, 2006. On January 29,2007, the Supreme Court, by written notification to Governor John P. deJongh, Jr., officially accepted all appellate and other jurisdiction conferred, thereby divesting the federal District Court of its historic role of overseeing the Superior Court. Prior to this date, all appeals were heard by the Appellate Division of the United States District Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The 1984 amendments to the Revised Organic Act by Congress also provided that the Third Circuit review decisions of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands for the first (15) fifteen years of its existence and directed that a comprehensive evaluation of the Court’s operations be conducted every five (5) years. The Third Circuit issued its first report on June 9, 2012, which concluded that the Supreme Court had developed sufficient institutional traditions to justify ending the fifteen (15) year oversight period. On December 28, 2012, President Barack Obama signed Public Law No. 112-226. This bill, sponsored by Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen, amended the Revised Organic Act to eliminate the Third Circuit’s oversight review period. With the elimination of the oversight period, the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands achieved parity with the highest courts of the several states and its decision will be subject to direct review by the Supreme Court of the United States. , as do the highest courts of several States. The Virgin Islands now joins the other States and Territories of the Union in establishing a progressive, 21st century, local court system.

On August 29, 2016, the local judiciary took another leap forward when Bill No. 31-0255, Act No. 7888, was signed into law by Governor Kenneth E. Mapp, unifying the administrations of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands and the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands. This Legislation, sponsored by Senator Kenneth L. Gittens and Senator Nereida “Nellie” O’Reilly, also authorized the expansion of the appellate bench from 3 to 5 justices. The unification of our local court system is consistent with the organizational structure of a majority of the jurisdictions under the United States Flag and should lead to the development of an efficient and progressive judiciary.