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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1612. Jurisdiction of District Court
(a) Jurisdiction
The District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have the
jurisdiction of a District Court of the United States, including,
but not limited to, the diversity jurisdiction provided for in
section 1332 of title 28 and that of a bankruptcy court of the
United States. The District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have
exclusive jurisdiction over all criminal and civil proceedings in
the Virgin Islands with respect to the income tax laws applicable
to the Virgin Islands, regardless of the degree of the offense or
of the amount involved, except the ancillary laws relating to the
income tax enacted by the legislature of the Virgin Islands. Any
act or failure to act with respect to the income tax laws
applicable to the Virgin Islands which would constitute a criminal
offense described in chapter 75 of subtitle F of title 26 shall
constitute an offense against the government of the Virgin Islands
and may be prosecuted in the name of the government of the Virgin
Islands by the appropriate officers thereof in the District Court
of the Virgin Islands without the request or the consent of the
United States attorney for the Virgin Islands, notwithstanding the
provisions of section 1617 of this title.
(b) General jurisdiction; limitations
In addition to the jurisdiction described in subsection (a) the
District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have general original
jurisdiction in all causes in the Virgin Islands the jurisdiction
over which is not then vested by local law in the local courts of
the Virgin Islands: Provided, That the jurisdiction of the District
Court of the Virgin Islands under this subsection shall not extend
to civil actions wherein the matter in controversy does not exceed
the sum or value of $500, exclusive of interest and costs; to
criminal cases wherein the maximum punishment which may be imposed
does not exceed a fine of $100 or imprisonment for six months, or
both; and to violations of local police and executive regulations.
The courts established by local law shall have jurisdiction over
the civil actions, criminal cases, and violations set forth in the
preceding proviso. In causes brought in the district court solely
on the basis of this subsection, the district court shall be
considered a court established by local law for the purposes of
determining the availability of indictment by grand jury or trial
by jury.
(c) Criminal offenses; concurrent jurisdiction with local courts
The District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have concurrent
jurisdiction with the courts of the Virgin Islands established by
local law over those offenses against the criminal laws of the
Virgin Islands, whether felonies or misdemeanors or both, which are
of the same or similar character or part of, or based on, the same
act or transaction or two or more acts or transactions connected
together or constituting part of a common scheme or plan, if such
act or transaction or acts or transactions also constitutes or
constitute an offense or offenses against one or more of the
statutes over which the District Court of the Virgin Islands has
jurisdiction pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section.
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