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(a) District Court of Virgin Islands; local courtsThe judicial power of the Virgin Islands shall be vested in a court of record designated the “District Court of the Virgin Islands” established by Congress, and in such appellate court and lower local courts as may have been or may hereafter be established by local law. (b) JurisdictionThe legislature of the Virgin Islands may vest in the courts of the Virgin Islands established by local law jurisdiction over all causes in the Virgin Islands over which any court established by the Constitution and laws of the United States does not have exclusive jurisdiction. Such jurisdiction shall be subject to the concurrent jurisdiction conferred on the District Court of the Virgin Islands by section 1612(a) and (c) of this title. (c) Practice and procedureThe rules governing the practice and procedure of the courts established by local law and those prescribing the qualifications and duties of the judges and officers thereof, oaths and bonds, and the times and places of holding court shall be governed by local law or the rules promulgated by those courts. (July 22, 1954, ch. 558, § 21, 68 Stat. 506; Pub. L. 98–454, title VII, § 702, Oct. 5, 1984, 98 Stat. 1737.) Editorial Notes Amendments1984—Pub. L. 98–454 designated existing provisions as subsec. (a), inserted “established by Congress” before “and in such” and substituted “appellate court and lower local courts as may have been or may hereafter be established by local law” for “court or courts of inferior jurisdiction as have been or may hereafter be established by local law”, and added subsecs. (b) and (c). Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries Effective Date of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–454 effective on ninetieth day following Oct. 5, 1984, see section 1005 of Pub. L. 98–454, set out as a note under section 1424 of this title.

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