The United States judicial tribunals created by Article III of the Constitution, or by Congress, to hear and determine justiciable controversies.

The Constitution created the Supreme Court and empowered Congress, in Article I, Section 8, to establish inferior federal courts. The authority of federal courts is limited to that given to them by the federal statutes that created them. Federal courts exist independently of the system of courts in each state that adjudicate controversies that arise pursuant to the laws of that state.