• Federal judge qualificationsman in black robe with crossed hands image by SZILAGYI ANNAMARIA from Fotolia.com
  
  There are four different types of federal tribunals under the United States Constitution. They are Article I legislative tribunals, Article II executive tribunals, Article III judicial tribunals and Article IV territorial tribunals. All employ federal judges. Qualifications vary by tribunal.
  
  

Article I Judges

• Article I federal judges are U.S. magistrates, U.S. bankruptcy judges, federal administrative law judges and U.S. military judges.
  
  The minimum qualifications for U.S. magistrates are as follows: member in good standing in the state bar for at least five years; practicing attorney for at least five years; competent citizen of good character, health, reason and judgment; non-relative of a district judge on the appointing court; and person less than 70 years old, according to Title 28 U.S.C. § 631(b) and §§ 1.01 and 1.02 of the Regulations of the Judicial Conference of the United States,
  
  According to Information and Application Materials for Applicants to a Fourteen-Year Term as United States Bankruptcy Judge, the minimum qualifications for U.S. bankruptcy judges are as follows: member in good standing in every state bar where admitted to practice; practicing attorney for at least five years, or former state judicial officer, U.S. magistrate judge, bankruptcy referee, federal or state agency attorney, or two-year law clerk; competent citizen of good character, integrity, and sound mental and physical health; and non-relative of a district judge or circuit judge in presiding circuit.
  
  The minimum qualifications for administrative law judges are as follows: member in good standing or on active status in the state bar; practicing attorney in litigation and/or administrative law for at least seven years; and success on a comprehensive four-hour written administrative law examination and an oral examination before an administrative law panel, according to the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946.
  
  According to Article 26 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the minimum qualifications for military judges are as follows: member in good standing of either a state bar or a federal court bar and Judge Advocate General certified commissioned officer.
  
  

Article II Judges

• Article II federal judges sit on courts specifically created by the President of the United States as Commander-in-Chief. The only such court currently in existence is the High Court of American Samoa. According to Executive Order 10264, the Secretary of the Department of the Interior appoints civilian judges to the High Court of American Samoa. There are no minimum qualifications.
  
  

Article III Judges

• Article III federal judges preside over the district courts of the United States, the U.S. Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Court of International Trade. Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States are also Article III federal judges. According to the Constitution for the United States of America, these judges are appointed for life, during "good behavior," and there are no minimum qualifications.
  
  However, since President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the American Bar Association Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary has been used to evaluate Article III judicial nominees. The evaluation criteria in this process includes the following minimum qualifications: member in good standing in the state bar for at least five years; practicing trial attorney and/or trial judge for at least 12 years; competent citizen of good character, integrity, reason, intelligence, and judgment with distinguished accomplishments; and civil and/or public servant. Additionally, appellate nominations are required to be legal scholars.
  
  

Article IV Judges

• Article IV federal judges function as both state and federal judges at the same time on the United States District Courts in the U.S. territories of the District of Columbia, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands. These courts fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress who selects the judges with no published minimum qualifications.