1. Jurisdiction Jurisdiction is the power of a court or judge to entertain an action, petition or other proceeding. When a proceeding in respect of a certain subject matter can only be brought in one court, that court is said to have exclusive jurisdiction; when it can be brought in any one of several courts, they are said to have concurrent jurisdiction. Jurisdiction also signifies the district or geographical limits within which the judgements or orders of a court can be enforced or executed. Gap fill activity In _______, jurisdiction (from the ________ ius, iuris meaning
law
and dicere meaning
to speak
) is the practical _________ granted to a formally constituted ____ body or to a ___________ ___________ to deal with and make pronouncements on legal matters and, by implication, to administer ________ within a defined area of responsibility. Or in common English: Jurisdiction is the authority given to a legal body, or to a political leader (Prime Minister, President, etc.) to deal with legal matters, and to pronounce or enforce legal matters. Law latinauthoritylegalpolitical leader justice Types of judicial jurisdiction There are three main types of judicial jurisdiction, personal (personam), territorial (locum), and subject matter (subjectam): Personal - Authority over a person, regardless of his location. Territorial - Authority confined to a bounded space, including all those present therein, and events which occur there. Subject Matter - Authority over the subject of the legal questions involved in the case. For jurisdiction to be complete, a court must have a concurrence of subject matter jurisdiction with either personal or territorial jurisdiction. The territorial jurisdiction is critical, on the principle that courts enforce laws which are territorial in their authority. A succinct definition can be stated as follows:
An area of land that is governed by an entity who can hold those residing therein accountable for following specific laws.
Courts may also have jurisdiction that is exclusive or concurrent (or shared). Where a court has exclusive jurisdiction over a territory or subject matter, it is the only court that is authorized to address that matter. Where a court has concurrent or shared jurisdiction, multiple courts in the same area can address the matter. Where concurrent jurisdiction exists in civil cases, the parties may attempt to engage in forum shopping, by bringing or moving the case to the court which they deem most favorable to them. Questions: Now think of two fiendishly clever questions to ask your class mates about Jurisdiction. If you finish early there is a picture of a judge to colour in.