The
federal tribunals of the United States include both
Article III tribunals (federal courts) as well as
adjudicative entities which are classified as
Article I or
Article IV tribunals. Some of the latter entities are also formally denominated as courts, but they do not enjoy certain protections afforded to Article III courts. These tribunals are described in reference to the article of the
federal Constitution from which the tribunal's authority stems. The use of the term "tribunal" in this context as a blanket term to encompass both courts and other adjudicative entities comes from
Article I of the Constitution, which expressly grants Congress the power to constitute tribunals inferior to the
U.S. Supreme Court.