jurisdiction
noun
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Questions of jurisdiction are generally technical legal matters. The most important ones include which court will hear a given case and which law-enforcement agency can get involved. But although they may seem like mere technicalities, jurisdictional matters sometimes turn out to be all-important in the final outcome. Jurisdiction may depend on where you are (for example, in which state), on who you are (if you're a juvenile, for example, you may only be tried in juvenile court), and on what the subject is (for example, cases involving the estate left by someone who has died are dealt with in probate court).
Synonyms
Examples of jurisdiction in a Sentence
Expert Panel®, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024
The company plans to change its jurisdiction of incorporation to Delaware prior to the completion of the USARE Business Combination, subject to shareholder approval.
—Quartz Bot, Quartz, 14 Nov. 2024
No jurisdiction so far has tried using age-verification methods such as biometrics or government identification to enforce a social media age cut-off, two of the methods being trialed.
—Reuters, NBC News, 7 Nov. 2024
Some jurisdictions faced a lengthy, two-page ballot that election officials worried would take voters longer to fill out at the polls and cause lines.
—Sasha Hupka, The Arizona Republic, 6 Nov. 2024
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Dictionary Entries Near jurisdiction
Cite this Entry
“Jurisdiction.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/jurisdiction. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
jurisdiction
noun
Legal Definition
jurisdiction
noun
U.S. Constitution art. IVNote: Jurisdiction determines which court system should properly adjudicate a case. Questions of jurisdiction also arise regarding quasi-judicial bodies (as administrative agencies) in their decision-making capacities.
Note: Ancillary jurisdiction allows a single court to decide an entire case instead of dividing the claims among several courts and proceedings, and allows a federal court to decide a claim that would otherwise be properly brought to a state court.
W. R. LaFave and A. W. Scott, Jr.
Note: The diversity jurisdiction of the district courts requires that there be complete diversity of the parties, which means that no party on one side has the same citizenship as a party on the other side. Interpleader in federal district courts, however, requires only minimal diversity, which means that at least one party has citizenship that differs from the others. The federal courts have traditionally refused to exercise their diversity jurisdiction over cases involving domestic relations and probate.
Note: The federal courts have usually interpreted the statutory phrase “arising under” rather strictly. U.S. Supreme Court decisions have held that the plaintiff's pleading must establish that the cause of action raises an issue of federal law (as by depending on construction or application of a federal law).
U.S. Code
Note: The U.S. Supreme Court has held in a series of decisions that the exercise of personal jurisdiction must meet the requirements of due process and must not violate notions of fair play and substantial justice. The constitutional standard to determine whether a party is subject to the personal jurisdiction of a court is whether that party has had minimum contacts within the territory (as a state) of that court.
National Law Journal
compare personal jurisdiction in this entry
Note: Diversity jurisdiction, federal question jurisdiction, and jurisdiction over admiralty and bankruptcy cases are examples of the federal courts' subject matter jurisdiction. Subject matter jurisdiction is generally established by statute.
Note: Supplemental jurisdiction was created by a federal statute that codified the judicially created doctrines of ancillary and pendent jurisdiction.
U.S. Constitution art. IVcalled also territorial jurisdiction
Latin jurisdictio, from juris, genitive of jus law + dictio act of saying, from dicere to say
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