Court of claims is a special court that settles claims against the government. Many countries have such courts. In the United States, courts of claims exist at the federal and state levels. Judges on the United States Court of Federal Claims travel throughout the country to hear lawsuits brought against the federal government. The president appoints judges to this court with the approval of the United States Senate. The court is based in Washington, D.C.
In 1855, Congress agreed that the United States government could be sued on certain types of matters and created the U.S. Court of Claims to handle such cases. In 1982, Congress changed the court’s name to the U.S. Claims Court. In 1992, Congress renamed it the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The court’s judgments may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
