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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1441. Actions removable generally
(a) Except as otherwise expressly provided by Act of Congress,
any civil action brought in a State court of which the district
courts of the United States have original jurisdiction, may be
removed by the defendant or the defendants, to the district court
of the United States for the district and division embracing the
place where such action is pending. For purposes of removal under
this chapter, the citizenship of defendants sued under fictitious
names shall be disregarded.
(b) Any civil action of which the district courts have original
jurisdiction founded on a claim or right arising under the
Constitution, treaties or laws of the United States shall be
removable without regard to the citizenship or residence of the
parties. Any other such action shall be removable only if none of
the parties in interest properly joined and served as defendants is
a citizen of the State in which such action is brought.
(c) Whenever a separate and independent claim or cause of action
within the jurisdiction conferred by section 1331 of this title is
joined with one or more otherwise non-removable claims or causes of
action, the entire case may be removed and the district court may
determine all issues therein, or, in its discretion, may remand all
matters in which State law predominates.
(d) Any civil action brought in a State court against a foreign
state as defined in section 1603(a) of this title may be removed by
the foreign state to the district court of the United States for
the district and division embracing the place where such action is
pending. Upon removal the action shall be tried by the court
without jury. Where removal is based upon this subsection, the time
limitations of section 1446(b) of this chapter may be enlarged at
any time for cause shown.
(e)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this
section, a defendant in a civil action in a State court may remove
the action to the district court of the United States for the
district and division embracing the place where the action is
pending if -
(A) the action could have been brought in a United States
district court under section 1369 of this title; or
(B) the defendant is a party to an action which is or could
have been brought, in whole or in part, under section 1369 in a
United States district court and arises from the same accident as
the action in State court, even if the action to be removed could
not have been brought in a district court as an original matter.
The removal of an action under this subsection shall be made in
accordance with section 1446 of this title, except that a notice of
removal may also be filed before trial of the action in State court
within 30 days after the date on which the defendant first becomes
a party to an action under section 1369 in a United States district
court that arises from the same accident as the action in State
court, or at a later time with leave of the district court.
(2) Whenever an action is removed under this subsection and the
district court to which it is removed or transferred under section
1407(j) has made a liability determination requiring further
proceedings as to damages, the district court shall remand the
action to the State court from which it had been removed for the
determination of damages, unless the court finds that, for the
convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of
justice, the action should be retained for the determination of
damages.
(3) Any remand under paragraph (2) shall not be effective until
60 days after the district court has issued an order determining
liability and has certified its intention to remand the removed
action for the determination of damages. An appeal with respect to
the liability determination of the district court may be taken
during that 60-day period to the court of appeals with appellate
jurisdiction over the district court. In the event a party files
such an appeal, the remand shall not be effective until the appeal
has been finally disposed of. Once the remand has become effective,
the liability determination shall not be subject to further review
by appeal or otherwise.
(4) Any decision under this subsection concerning remand for the
determination of damages shall not be reviewable by appeal or
otherwise.
(5) An action removed under this subsection shall be deemed to be
an action under section 1369 and an action in which jurisdiction is
based on section 1369 of this title for purposes of this section
and sections 1407, 1697, and 1785 of this title.
(6) Nothing in this subsection shall restrict the authority of
the district court to transfer or dismiss an action on the ground
of inconvenient forum.
(f) The court to which a civil action is removed under this
section is not precluded from hearing and determining any claim in
such civil action because the State court from which such civil
action is removed did not have jurisdiction over that claim.
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