The meaning of jurisdiction.

• Author: Trawick, Henry P., Jr.
• Position: Letters - Letter to the editor

Judge Scott Stephens' article on the third species of jurisdiction (March) is interesting. I suggest that it is not correct. There is no third kind of jurisdiction. The word jurisdiction is one that is subject to many meanings. When it is used in its sense of jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the person, it is as the technical legal core of the word.

The word is loosely used in many aspects, just as "pleadings" is. It is sometimes used to mean that the court lacks authority under substantive principles of law. The lack of authority is not the same as a lack of jurisdiction. Appellate courts are not precise in using the term.

The procedural jurisdiction that Judge Stephens seeks to create is merely a lack of authority under substantive law. It is not "jurisdictional." The fact that the courts have used language indicating that it is, does not make it so. Many appellate judges have difficulty in expressing themselves accurately. A better example is the use of jurisdictional venue in many older decisions.

For example, three of the four items Judge Stephens lists that have been characterized as jurisdictional are not. A court is without authority to enter an order until a case is opened because there is nothing for it to act on. It has nothing to do with jurisdiction in its technical sense. It has to do with legal void.

A court cannot enter an order outside the scope of the pleadings because it cannot create issues that the parties have not created. It is not a question of jurisdiction. It is a question of lack of authority under principles of substantive law.

When a case is terminated by a voluntary dismissal, the court loses jurisdiction of the persons. It cannot act because there is nothing for it to act on. It is a lack of jurisdiction over the persons of the parties. They are gone from the litigation so the court cannot act as to them.

A court lacks authority to enter an order on a matter under appellate...