Dictionary of Legal Terms

Jurisdiction

The obligation and authority of a court. Territorial jurisdiction refers to the geographical extent of a court's authority. A court's jurisdiction may be exclusive or it may be concurrent with the jurisdiction of other courts. A trial court is said to have general jurisdiction if it has authority to deal with most types of civil and criminal cases. Subject-matter jurisdiction refers to the power of a court to deal with specific types of lawsuits or to award certain kinds of remedies. Monetary jurisdiction refers to the court's authority to deal with lawsuits depending on the minimum or maximum amount of money in controversy. A court in which a given type of action may be begun is said to have original jurisdiction. A court with power to review the decisions of other courts, or administrative agencies, has appellate jurisdiction. In some cases, such as domestic relations cases involving parenting time and child support, the court retains the ability to change its orders according to (for example) changes in family circumstances. This is referred to as the court's continuing jurisdiction. See juvenile division, where the terms exclusive jurisdiction and concurrent jurisdiction are used in context.

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This dictionary was developed by the Ohio State Bar Association with funding from the Ohio State Bar Foundation. The information contained in this dictionary is general and should not be applied to specific legal problems without first consulting your own attorney.

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© 2007 Ohio State Bar Association. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

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