A certified application is used by federal courts to obtain legal precedent from state Supreme Courts when dealing with state law issues. This is necessary due to the Erie Doctrine, which requires federal courts to apply the substantive law of the state. State Supreme Courts can only answer certified questions for pending cases without a legal background check. Some states have adopted the UCQLA, and a certified application must describe the legal issue and pertinent facts. It may also refer to interlocutory appeals in some states.
The term “certified application” becomes relevant when a federal court is deciding a case involving state law and is dealing with a particular issue in the case for which there is no controlling legal precedent. To obtain the necessary legal precedent, the federal court takes a certified question of law to the highest court in that state — often referred to as the Supreme Court — then stays the pending case pending a response. Once the State Supreme Court delivers its answer, and thus sets a legal precedent, the Federal Court applies this rule of law to the case before it and will issue its final judgment. A certified application can also be identified when a lower court appeals to a higher state or federal court based on a particular point of law.
The need for certification of matters of law arose, at least in part, because of a statute of federal law called the Erie Doctrine. According to the Erie Doctrine, federal courts that have jurisdiction over cases involving state law must apply the substantive law of that particular state. Thus, the Erie Doctrine expects a federal court to predict how the state court would rule on the same issue and then make its decision accordingly.
The authority of a state Supreme Court to answer a certified question is limited to pending cases. It is also limited to cases where there is no legal background check. If any of these factors are missing, the certification process will fail.
The authority of a state Supreme Court to address these matters derives from state rules of civil procedure. At the federal level, there is a civil procedure rule that allows a federal appellate court to certify a question of law to the United States Supreme Court. Some state Supreme Courts have held, however, that such rules are unnecessary because these courts possess inherent judicial power to answer such questions. Many states have adopted the Uniform Certification of Questions of Law Act (UCQLA) as part of their state statutes. UCQLA provides that a State Supreme Court may answer a question of law certified by the United States Supreme Court, a United States Court of Appeals, a United States District Court, or the higher Court of Appeals. high or intermediate of another State.
When filed, a certified application must describe the specific legal issue being addressed, as well as all pertinent facts. A state Supreme Court can dismiss a certified application if the certificate was not filed properly. It can also reject certified applications for lack of prosecution. Lack of legal action can arise when, over a period of time, no action has been taken to complete the certification process.
A certified application may also refer to the term “interlocutory appeal” in some states. This occurs when an appellate court reviews a court’s decision on a particular legal issue before the court makes its final ruling. This usually happens when a direct appeal is not possible.
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