Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court

E9055

Article III court United States federal court specialized court

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is a specialized U.S. federal court that reviews and authorizes government requests for electronic surveillance and other intelligence-gathering activities for national security purposes.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (2)

Surface form	Occurrences
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review	2
FISA Court	1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Article III court ⓘ United States federal court ⓘ specialized court ⓘ
branchOfGovernment	Judicial branch of the United States ⓘ
canIssue	orders authorizing electronic surveillance ⓘ orders authorizing pen register and trap-and-trace devices ⓘ orders authorizing physical searches ⓘ orders compelling production of business records ⓘ
composition	11 federal district court judges ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
createdBy	Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ⓘ surface form: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978
dateEstablished	1978 ⓘ
geographicDiversityRequirement	each judge from a different judicial circuit ⓘ
judgeAppointmentBy	Chief Justice of the United States ⓘ
judgeEligibility	United States district court judges ⓘ
jurisdiction	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States business records for foreign intelligence purposes ⓘ certain forms of bulk data collection ⓘ electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes ⓘ foreign intelligence surveillance matters ⓘ pen register and trap-and-trace devices for foreign intelligence purposes ⓘ physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes ⓘ
legalBasis	50 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq. ⓘ Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act ⓘ
location	Washington, D.C. ⓘ
numberOfJudges	11 ⓘ
overseenBy	United States Congress ⓘ
primaryFunction	authorize compelled production of tangible things for foreign intelligence purposes ⓘ authorize electronic surveillance for national security purposes ⓘ authorize physical searches for national security purposes ⓘ review government applications for foreign intelligence surveillance ⓘ
proceedingsCharacteristic	classified ⓘ closed to the public ⓘ
processType	ex parte ⓘ non-adversarial ⓘ
relatedTo	Federal Bureau of Investigation ⓘ Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review ⓘ National Security Agency ⓘ Office of the Director of National Intelligence ⓘ
seatedAt	E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse ⓘ
standardOfReview	probable cause that the target is a foreign power or agent of a foreign power ⓘ
subjectOf	controversies regarding bulk metadata collection ⓘ debates over privacy and civil liberties ⓘ public transparency reform efforts ⓘ
subjectToReviewBy	Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
termLengthOfJudges	7 years ⓘ
typeOfLawApplied	foreign intelligence surveillance law ⓘ national security law ⓘ

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review → decisionsBindingOn → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act → establishes → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

this entity surface form: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review

FISC → fullName → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review → hearsAppealsFrom → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

PRISM → oversightBody → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

FISA Amendments Act of 2008 → oversightBy → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

National Security Agency → oversightBy → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

USIC → oversightBy → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

subject surface form: United States Intelligence Community

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review → relatedTo → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

National Security Letters → relatedTo → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

subject surface form: National Security Letter

this entity surface form: FISA Court

United States Intelligence Community → subjectToOversightBy → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court ⓘ

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court → subjectToReviewBy → Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review