Congress has the ability to form lower federal courts that are inferior to the Supreme Court. This inferiority stems from the fact that these courts are formed by Congress while the Supreme Court is formed by the letter of the Constitution. These courts are formed by the Congress on the basis of the Article I or Article III of the Constitution.

District federal courts were formed based on Article III of the Constitution. The States are divided into federal judicial districts – there are 50 States and 89 federal judicial districts. Each state has at least one judicial district. There are a total of 94 district federal courts. These courts handle about 80 percent of federal cases, they can deal with both, criminal and civil cases.

Based on Article I of the Constitution, Congresses form special courts that have very narrow jurisdiction and can only deal with certain specific cases. Judges of this court are also appointed by the Senate and the President, but for a fixed term.

Initially, the Supreme Court was the only final instance for appeals from lower courts. This has led the court to be overwhelmed with appeals and to be several years late in hearing cases.

To overcome this situation, Congress formed new courts of appeals. Currently, the state is divided into 12 judicial circuits and has 13 courts of appeals. Each judicial district has one court of appeals, and the thirteenth court is The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and is located in the District of Columbia. The jurisdiction of this court extends throughout the country, and it considers appeals in patent, copyright and international trade cases.

By establishing new courts of appeals, it has been possible for a large number of parties to achieve their right to appeal in a shorter period of time. In this way, these courts contribute to democratic values uphold by the government.

By authority from the Constitution, Congress establishes a series of federal courts. There are two types of these courts:

**1. Federal District Courts**

**2. Special Courts**

Federal District Courts deal with constitutional issues, which means they can have a wide range of jurisdiction. On the other hand, special courts have very narrow jurisdictions and are often established in response to current events.

An example of how current events have led to the creation of special courts is the establishment of the Court of Veterans Appeals in 1988, which in 1999 changed its name to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.The institution in charge of veterans’ affairs is the Department of Veteran Affairs, however, many veterans were dissatisfied with the decisions of this body and wanted to be given the opportunity to appeal against them. With the establishment of the above-mentioned court, this was made possible. In addition, the appeals before that court showed which issues concerning veterans were not adequately regulated. This has led the authorities to react and find better solutions fore some of those issues.

The District of Colombia has a special and unique status within the USA. This district, which represents the capital, is a federal district formed by Congress. For this reason, Congress has exclusive jurisdiction over it.

Since the District of Columbia is not part of any state or a state itself, it does not have its own legislation, and Congress is in charge of its regulation.

In order to cover all necessary matters of the judiciary in this special district, Congress has established the following special courts in it:
**1. Federal district court
2. Federal Court of Appeals
3. Superior court
4. Court of appeals**
The first two mentioned courts are federal and are in charge of cases concerning constitutional issues. The other two courts are local, like the courts in the States.

The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims and the Court of Federal Claims are both special courts established by Congress.

The Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims is in charge of individual appeals against decisions of the administrative agency within the Department of Veterans Affairs. That agency is the Board of Veterans Appeals, and the complaints are mainly related to the fact that individuals claim that certain rights of veterans are not respected.

The Court of Federal Claims is the court that is responsible for pleas directed against the government of the United States. The United States government is well protected from lawsuits and there is an accurate list of reasons on which it can be sued. That list was adopted by Congress.

In both cases, these courts are an instance in which the parties can sue the state or some part of it. While the Court of Appeals for Veteran Claims is responsible for appeals against decisions of a particular state agency, in the Court of Federal Claims are held the complete trials in which the respondent is the United States government. Any appeals against decisions of both courts may be heard in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.