The Supreme Court was created by commonwealth law on May 1, 1989. This was allowed under the terms of the Covenant to Establish a Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Political Union with the United States of America, § 402(c), Act of Mar. 24, 1976, Pub. L. 94-241, 90 Stat. 263,
codified as amended at 48 U.S.C. § 1801 note. The Covenant granted self-government to the CNMI, with the U.S. administering the islands under the former
United Nations Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands system. Prior to the creation of the Supreme Court, the Covenant provided that the District Court for the NMI would exercise original jurisdiction over federal law matters and appellate jurisdiction over commonwealth law matters. Covenant § 402(a) & (c). With the creation of the Supreme Court, the District Court's appellate jurisdiction was effectively eliminated. However, the Covenant provided that for 15 years following the creation of a commonwealth appellate court, appeals of that court's decisions would go to the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, just as if the decision was rendered by the District Court. Covenant § 403(a). As of May 1, 2004, CNMI Supreme Court appeals can be
taken directly to the
United States Supreme Court, thus giving the CNMI court relative parity with the
highest courts of the 50
U.S. states. The court typically hears cases at the House of Justice (; ) in Susupe; however, some cases are also heard at the Kotten Tinian in San Jose and the Rota Centron Hustisia in Sinapalo. ==Current justices==