Legal Definitions - jurisdiction

Definition: Jurisdiction refers to the power of a court or government agency to hear and decide cases, and issue orders. It also refers to the territory within which a court or government agency can properly exercise its power.

For example, in the case of Ruhrgas AG v. Marathon Oil Co. et al., the United States Supreme Court had to determine whether it had jurisdiction over the case. The court had to decide whether it had the power to hear the case and issue a ruling.

There are three components to a jurisdictional question:

• Whether there is personal jurisdiction, which means whether the court can hear the case involving the particular defendant(s).
• Whether there is jurisdiction over the subject matter, which means whether the court has the authority to decide the issue in controversy.
• Whether there is jurisdiction to render the particular judgment sought.

The power of a court to determine a jurisdictional question is itself a jurisdictional question. This is known as "jurisdiction to determine jurisdiction."

State courts have general jurisdiction, which means they can hear any controversy except those prohibited by state law. Federal courts have limited jurisdiction, which means they can only hear cases that fall within the scope defined by the Constitution and Congressional statutes.

Other forms of jurisdiction include appellate jurisdiction, concurrent jurisdiction, and diversity jurisdiction.

For example, in the case of Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L. P., parties sued a defendant who was a resident of a different state. For a state court to hear this case, it needed to satisfy the constitutionaldue process requirement for territorial jurisdiction as well as the state statutory requirement, which is typically known as a state's long-arm statute.

In simple terms, jurisdiction refers to the power of a court to hear and decide cases. It is important because it determines whether a court has the authority to make a ruling in a particular case. Different courts have different types of jurisdiction, and the type of jurisdiction depends on the nature of the case and the parties involved.