Criminal justice jurisdiction and legal frameworks

Criminal Justice, Jurisdiction

Explain what the term "jurisdiction" means.

Jurisdiction is defined as the "geographic area over which authority extends: legal authority; the authority to hear and determine causes of action" (Thefreedictionary.com, (n.d.)). An understanding of jurisdiction is needed to help determine where legal authority begins and ends. Legal cases need to be filed, heard and tried in an organized manner through the court system. This cannot happen if jurisdiction is unclear. Using geographic markers is the simplest way to determine jurisdiction. The easiest way to illustrate this is using the federal courts. Federal court jurisdiction covers the whole United States. State court jurisdictions cover each state. Simply put, jurisdiction determines which court hears which case. A person with a case cannot take their action to any court. They must determine which appropriate court is authorized to hear their case.

Jurisdiction could also mean the origin of the courts' authority (Thefreedictionary.com, (n.d.)). For example, a general court could hear all trial cases while a specific court (such as traffic court) would only hear traffic cases. An example of a general court would be the Supreme Court of New York where any and all cases that travel to the top state level would be heard pending judge approval. Courts of limited jurisdiction usually preside over smaller cases and can operate under a variety of names including municipal, county or district courts (Siegel, 2010).

Identify the different types of court jurisdiction and how determination is made

The two main types of court jurisdiction are state courts of limited jurisdiction and courts of general jurisdiction. The limited jurisdiction courts can only hear cases that fall under their purview (Siegel, 2010). Limited jurisdiction courts make up about 90% of all state courts (Siegel, 2010). These courts handle both civil and criminal matters. One of the most common courts is family or juvenile court where any cases involving minors are handled, including custody and delinquency. Courts of general jurisdiction handle serious felony and criminal cases (Siegel, 2010). These courts are most commonly called district, superior or supreme courts.

There is also a difference between original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction. If a court has original jurisdiction, then they will be able to hold a trial concerning that case. Appellate jurisdiction means the court only has the authority to review the trial to see if an error was made to grant an appeal (thefreedictionary.com, (n.d.)).