Judicial Branch

The judicial branch is comprised of the University Court, the General Court, the Election Court, and the Judicial Staff. The branch meets at 7:00 p.m. each Monday of the Fall Semester in the Red River Room on the third floor of the Student Union. Except for certain private deliberations and proceedings, all meetings of each court are open to the public. Due to circumstances surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and until further notice, all members of the public who wish to attend a meeting must complete this Daily Symptom Checker and email a copy of your results to sgjudicial@lsu.edu.

 

The University Court consists of nine justices appointed by the Student Body President and confirmed by two-thirds of the Student Senate present and voting. The University Court is led by the Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice. All nine justices adjudicate Student Government cases as a panel and issue judgments as necessary. The University Court is the highest court of the judicial branch and hears appeals from the inferior courts. The University Court also accepts advisory inquiries on questions of law pertaining to constitutional provisions or provisions derived therefrom.

 

The General Court is an inferior court of limited jurisdiction. The General Court hears cases and controversies arising under the Constitution, the enactments of the Student Government, all rules derived therefrom, except those cases involving Elections, and all cases referred to it by any facet of the University Administration. Cases before the General Court are adjudicated by a panel of three judges. Either the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, or an assigned associate justice serve as the Chief Judge of a sitting panel of the General Court. The other two judges of the General Court are respectively assigned associate justices. Given this structure, each panel of judges on the General Court may differ in composition.

 

The Election Court is an inferior court of limited jurisdiction. The Election Court hears cases and controversies arising under the Elections title of the Student Government Code, Election procedure, Elections held by the Election Commission, and all cases referred to it by any facet of the University Administration. Cases before the Election Court are adjudicated by a panel of three judges. Either the Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, or an assigned associate justice serve as the Chief Judge of a sitting panel of the Election Court. The other two judges of the Election Court are respectively assigned associate justices. Given this structure, each panel of judges on the Election Court may differ in composition.

 

The Judicial Staff carries out the administrative functions of the judicial branch and serves at the pleasure of the Chief Justice.

 

The process of how a case navigates through the judicial process is demonstrated in the Rules of Court, Rules of Judicial Procedure, and Case Procedures. Prospective litigants are encouraged to thoroughly understand these procedures before submitting any filing before any court of the judicial branch. These documents can be found in the Judicial Repository.

 

Questions regarding the judicial process of the LSU Student Government should be directed to sgjudicial@lsu.edu.