80TH CONGRESS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 1st Session { REPORT No. 308 REVISION OF TITLE 28, UNITED STATES CODE APRIL 25, 1947.-Ordered to be printed Mr. ROBSION, from the Committee on the Judiciary, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 3214] The Committee on the Judiciary submits the following report in explanation of the bill (H. R. 3214) to revise, codify, and enact into law title 28 of the United States Code entitled "Judicial Code and Judiciary," and recommends that the bill do pass. The present bill has been substituted for an earlier bill (H. R. 2055) on which hearings were held and contains changes recommended by the subcommittee. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT SCOPE OF REVISION The source material of this revision was the Judicial Code of 1911 constituting, in part, title 28 of the United States Code. To this were added appropriate sections from other titles which could be transferred without impairing the framework of the official United States Code prepared by the former Committee on Revision of the Laws of the House and enacted by Congress in 1926. This revision includes all applicable laws in effect March 10, 1947. Before actual revision was begun a scientific plan was assembled. This included: 1. The complete text of title 28, United States Code, 1940 edition, and the latest supplement thereto. 2. Pertinent provisions from other titles of the code. 3. Complete text of original acts set out in the Statutes at Large. 4. Applicable constructions by the courts. 5. Notes based upon a careful examination of the Code of Federal Regulations and law reviews. 6. Exhaustive historical notes. 7. Notes on the Rules of Civil Procedure and Rules of Criminal Procedure promulgated by the Supreme Court. 1 8. Suggestions from the bench and bar. Revision, as distinguished from codification, required the substitution of plain language for awkward terms, reconciliation of conflicting laws, repeal of superseded sections, and consolidation of related provisions. HISTORY OF THE JUDICIAL CODE The first law establishing the Federal courts and regulating their jurisdiction and procedure was enacted at the first session of the First Congress. This law of September 24, 1789 (ch. 21, 1 Stat. 73), is popularly known as the Judiciary Act of 1789. This first judicial code was very brief. It comprised only 35 sections. But the Nation itself was small, with a population of only 3,000,000. From the beginning the body of the law relating to the courts and judicial officers and their procedure developed gradually by unrelated acts, without any real effort to reconcile conflicting provisions of successive enactments. At the outbreak of the Civil War the Statutes at Large numbered 12 volumes. That war and the reconstruction period which followed gave impetus to Federal legislation. The whole of the expanding body of Federal law was carefully examined by the commissioners empowered by Congress in 1866 to prepare the Revised Statutes of the United States. Obsolete and superseded provisions, which had accumulated during the 88-year period from 1789 to the date of the final approval of the Revised Statutes in 1877, were repealed. Inconsistent provisions were reconciled and all existing laws relating to the courts were analyzed, revised, and consolidated into title XIII, of the Revised Statutes, entitled "The Judiciary," comprising 21 chapters and 564 sections. The Judicial Code of 1911 was enacted into law by act March 3, 1911 (ch. 231, 36 Stat. 1152), after long and exhaustive study by the same commission that drafted the Criminal Code of 1909. In preparing the Judicial Code of 1911 the commissioners discarded the analysis and arrangement used in the Revised Statutes. Statutes were revised and consolidated, obsolete laws were repealed and improvements were introduced. The old circuit courts were abolished and their jurisdiction transferred to the district courts. Thirty-six years have passed since the enactment of the Judicial Code of 1911. That is a longer time than elapsed between the revisions of 1878 and 1911. It comprises a period which witnessed unprecedented changes on the national scene. During those years the population of the United States leaped from 91,000,000 to 140,000,000 and the Nation twice experienced the tremendous social changes that accompany world wars. It is a tribute to Congress and to the draftsmen of the Judicial Code of 1911 that our judicial system has withstood the impact of these terrific changes. However, there is little doubt that the changes of the past 36 years make imperative this revision of the Judicial Code. STAFF OF EXPERTS ASSEMBLED The former Committee on Revision of the Laws obtained the services of the West Publishing Co., of St. Paul, Minn., and the Edward Thompson Co., of Brooklyn, N. Y., thus bringing to this undertaking |