This article is about the term as used in reference to subject-matter jurisdiction. For information on the use of the term in reference to personal jurisdiction, see Personal jurisdiction.
A court of general jurisdiction is a court with authority to hear cases of all kinds – criminal, civil, family, probate, and so forth.
United StatesEdit
All federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. Many U.S. states have divided their courts between criminal and civil, with some making further divisions, assigning probate, family law, and juvenile cases, for example, to specialized courts.
General jurisdiction and judicial immunityEdit
One significant effect of the classification of a court is the liability that a judge from that court might face for stepping beyond the bounds of that court. Judges are able to claim judicial immunity for acts that are not completely beyond their jurisdiction. For example, if a probate judge were to sentence a person to jail, that judge would not have immunity and could be sued because a probate judge has no jurisdiction to effect a criminal sentence. However, a judge in a court of general jurisdiction who happened to be overseeing a probate case would be immune from suit for sending a party to jail, because handing down a criminal sentence is not completely beyond the jurisdiction of such a judge.
In the United States, this principle was established by the Supreme Court in Stump v. Sparkman, 435 U.S. 349 (1978). The Court found in that case that an Indiana judge was immune from a suit brought by a young woman whom the judge had ordered to be sterilized, at the behest of the woman's mother. Because the Indiana court was a court of general jurisdiction, and no law of Indiana expressly prohibited the judge from issuing such an order, the Supreme Court found that the order was not completely beyond the jurisdiction of that judge.
general, jurisdiction, this, article, about, term, used, reference, subject, matter, jurisdiction, information, term, reference, personal, jurisdiction, personal, jurisdiction, this, article, does, cite, sources, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, c. This article is about the term as used in reference to subject matter jurisdiction For information on the use of the term in reference to personal jurisdiction see Personal jurisdiction This article does not cite any sources Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources General jurisdiction news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2007 Learn how and when to remove this template message The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with the United States and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject You may improve this article discuss the issue on the talk page or create a new article as appropriate December 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message A court of general jurisdiction is a court with authority to hear cases of all kinds criminal civil family probate and so forth United States EditAll federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction Many U S states have divided their courts between criminal and civil with some making further divisions assigning probate family law and juvenile cases for example to specialized courts General jurisdiction and judicial immunity EditOne significant effect of the classification of a court is the liability that a judge from that court might face for stepping beyond the bounds of that court Judges are able to claim judicial immunity for acts that are not completely beyond their jurisdiction For example if a probate judge were to sentence a person to jail that judge would not have immunity and could be sued because a probate judge has no jurisdiction to effect a criminal sentence However a judge in a court of general jurisdiction who happened to be overseeing a probate case would be immune from suit for sending a party to jail because handing down a criminal sentence is not completely beyond the jurisdiction of such a judge In the United States this principle was established by the Supreme Court in Stump v Sparkman 435 U S 349 1978 The Court found in that case that an Indiana judge was immune from a suit brought by a young woman whom the judge had ordered to be sterilized at the behest of the woman s mother Because the Indiana court was a court of general jurisdiction and no law of Indiana expressly prohibited the judge from issuing such an order the Supreme Court found that the order was not completely beyond the jurisdiction of that judge See also EditLimited jurisdiction Subject matter jurisdiction Ordinary court Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title General jurisdiction amp oldid 1148526352, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
