Jurisdiction refers to the powers of a court or legislature to apply laws. Under democratic principles of government, the jurisdiction of courts and legislators is defined by constitutional law. To be enforceable, a law must be within the jurisdiction of the responsible authority. This is a case of 'There's no law against it', if the jurisdiction doesn't apply to the situation. Consitutional courts or superior courts may be required to rule on the validity of jurisdictions in a dispute. |
Jurisdiction between and within states: Jurisdiction between and within courts that are within the same jurisdiction.
International: International jurisdiction is the authority or power of a court to hear and rule of matters between other countries or persons from different countries or states. For example, forum shopping involves the practice of layers to ''shop'' around for a more positive venue for the case they are trying to win.
Supranational: Supranational jurisdiction is the authority of countries or other states to invoke the jurisdiction of other state courts and enforce the resulting judgments from those courts.
National: National jurisdiction is the jurisdiction a state or province has over its territory. Sometimes jurisdiction can overlap in which case, jurisdiction is shared between the governments. If it is not shared only one government can have exclusive jurisdiction of a shared territory.
State Level: Each states government has jurisdiction over its smaller territory.
Examples of Jurisdiction:
Laws are enacted giving specific powers to apply them. Crimes Acts are enacted to cover criminal acts, and police and law enforcement agencies are empowered to apply these laws. Statutory laws refer to statutes like parking laws, with the power to enforce given to local governments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurisdiction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_jurisdiction |
![]() Statue titled 'Authority of Law' by james earle fraser. A single tablet inscribed with 'LEX' is held by the figure, which is located to the right of the front steps of the united states supreme court building. |