legal word of the day: JURISDICTION

legal word of the day: JURISDICTION

POL: właściwośc sądu, jurysdykcja, uprawnienie (kompetencja) do rozpoznawania i rozstrzygania danej sprawy

ENG: the authority of a court to hear a case

Jurisdiction may extend over

o   a specific geographic area

o   certain persons

o   certain kinds of cases (specific jurisdiction as opposed to general jurisdiction)

If the court does not have jurisdiction over a particular case:

o   the  case may be dismissed

o   or its result may be overturned in a subsequent action.

to DISMISS – oddalić (to throw the case out of court)

to OVERTURN – zmienić (to say officially that something such as a decision or law is wrong and change it)

SUBSEQUENT – późniejsza (happening later on)


(1) The case was a simple drug possession case. The defendant ran a red light. Patrol cop pulled him over. The cop saw a gun in the car, then searched the defendant and found drugs.

At the trial, the first witness was the patrol officer. The D.A. established the officer as an on duty police officer, then went into this line of questioning.
“You stopped the car at the intersection of Broadway and Dobson?”
“Is that intersection in the City of Mesa?”
“Is that intersection in the County of Maricopa?”
“Is that intersection in the State of Arizona?”
The D.A. then moved on to a different line of questioning, but I was asking myself what were those questions about. I must admit I ignored the proceedings for a few minutes until it finally dawned on me the D.A. was establishing the jurisdiction. Establishing the jurisdiction is probably a routine part of every trial, but for me, a virgin juror, the questions seemed almost random.

The D.A. = District Attorney – prokurator okręgowy  (a representative of the government in criminal cases)

to ESTABLISH – ustalić (to discover or get proof of something)

a LINE OF QUESTIONING – metoda przesłuchiwania, tu: ciąg pytań  (an ordering of questions so as to develop a particular argument)

a COUNTY – hrabstwo (a political subdivision of a state)
PROCEEDINGS – postępowanie (action taken in a court to settle a dispute)

a JUROR – członek ławy przysięgłej (a member of the jury, a lay group which enters a verdict)

(2) Concurrent jurisdiction means that both the state and federal court have jurisdiction over the matter.

CONCURRENT JURISDICTION (a situation in which two or more courts from different systems simultaneously have jurisdiction over a specific case)

(3) Under federal and state laws and court rules, a court may exercise authority only if it has two types of jurisdiction: personal and subject matter. Personal Jurisdiction is the authority that a court has over the parties in the case. Subject Matter Jurisdiction is a court's authority over the particular claim or controversy.

UNDER THE LAW – zgodnie z danym prawem (according to, pursuant to)

to EXERCISE SOMEONE’S AUTHORITY – korzystać z uprawnienia (to use one’s power)

PERSONAL JURISDICTION – właściwość osobowa (a court's jurisdiction over the parties to a lawsuit)

SUBJECT MATTER JURISDICTION – właściwość rzeczowa (a court’s jurisdiction over the law and facts involved in the suit)

(4) In some cases (such as bankruptcy and maritime cases) the federal courts will have exclusive jurisdiction, which means that only the federal trial courts may hear such claims, not the state courts.

MARITIME CASE – sprawa dotycząca prawa morskiego (związana z żeglugą morską/korzystaniem z morza) (a case connected with the sea waters)

EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION – wyłączna właściwość/ jurysdykcja (a situation in which one court has the power to adjudicate a case to the exclusion of all other courts)

to HEAR A CLAIM – orzekać w sprawie (to decide a case)