CLASSIFICATION OF COURTS’ JURISDICTIONS

The jurisdiction of courts is an important aspect of the law that cannot be overlooked. A court is always conscious of whether or not a case before it is within its jurisdiction. Our topic discussion is on the classification of the  jurisdiction of courts and its meanings/applications/effects- original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction, concurrent jurisdiction, superior jurisdiction…

Original Jurisdiction:

A court is said to have original jurisdiction over a particular subject matter, if it is the court that the Law empowers to sit first over a case bordering on the specified subject matter. In other words, this is the first court the Law says a matter of a particular nature should be taken to. Where a court exercises its original jurisdiction on a matter, it is called a Court of First Instance. The effect of this is that, every legal action must be commenced in a court empowered with original jurisdiction over the subject matter of the case. Thus, an action brought before the wrong court stands to be struck out for want of jurisdiction. I will give you an example- the law empowers the High Court with an original jurisdiction to hear matrimonial causes. The effect of this is, where you have an intention of filing a petition to divorce your wife, the first court to take the petition to is the High Court. In other words, you cannot file the petition before the Magistrate Court. Why? Because, the Magistrate Court has no original jurisdiction to hear divorce suits.

Appellate Jurisdiction:

A court is said to have an appellate jurisdiction if the Law empowers it to hear appeals on a case from lower courts. A court’s appellate jurisdiction is only exercisable when it hears appeals. In other words, the appellate jurisdiction of a court is applied when it is sitting on appeal on a case. Virtually every court in Nigeria has both original and appellate jurisdictions. This means that a court can sit both as a court of first instance and as an appellate court.

Concurrent Jurisdiction:

This refers to a situation where two or more courts are said to be on the same level/status/pedestal of jurisdiction. The effect of this is that no court is deemed greater than the other, jurisdiction wise. Where two or more courts have concurrent jurisdiction, no appeal from one can lie to the other. In other words, none is higher or lower than the other. A good example of courts with concurrent jurisdiction is the High Court of a State, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), the Federal High Court and the National Industrial Court. These courts are of concurrent/coordinate jurisdiction. For instance, where judgment is given in your matter by the High Court of the FCT and you wish to appeal against the judgment, you cannot take the appeal to any of the courts having coordinate jurisdiction with the High court of the FCT. Your appeal can only lie/go to a higher court- the Court of Appeal.

Superior Jurisdiction:

A court is said to be of superior jurisdiction if it is higher in rank than another. NB: there is nothing like inferior court or inferior jurisdiction. A court with superior jurisdiction hears appeal from the court directly next to it in the hierarchical pyramid of courts. Courts with superior jurisdiction are otherwise called superior courts of record. These are courts established by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

 

Questions are highly welcome. Please check my Mini Law Dictionary here.

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