When can you challenge jurisdiction

Key Concepts Jurisdiction must be addressed by the trial court only if it is raised by the defendant, either through a pre-trial motion or at trial. If the issue of jurisdiction is a purely legal question, or there is no genuine dispute as to the facts, the court should decide the matter. If the issue of jurisdiction is based on a genuine factual dispute, the court must submit the matter to the jury to decide.

When Jurisdiction Must be Proven The question of whether the court has jurisdiction only has to be addressed if the defendant raises the issue. Procedure for Challenging Jurisdiction The defendant may assert a lack of jurisdiction at any time. The defense may challenge the jurisdiction of the trial court in two ways: Pretrial Motion The defendant may move for dismissal prior to trial based on lack of jurisdiction.

The court may consider the matter at a pretrial hearing, or it may defer ruling until a later time, including after trial begins.

Patel , N. At Trial As noted above, the defendant may wait to challenge jurisdiction until after the trial begins. Standard and Burden of Proof If there is no factual dispute about jurisdiction, but only a legal question about whether the agreed-upon facts are sufficient to confer jurisdiction, the court, rather than the jury, must decide the issue. Related Resources. Cross border enforcement. Insolvency for dispute resolution practitioners. Challenging court jurisdiction. Introduction to jurisdiction.

Jurisdiction EU regime. Jurisdiction international regime. Jurisdiction UK regime. Sign-in Help. Challenging court jurisdiction—general principles Challenging court jurisdiction—general principles Practice notes.

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Job title. Job title Click to edit. For an illustration of an application challenging the court's jurisdiction under CPR 11, see Case study, Disputing jurisdiction. Free Practical Law trial. To access this resource, sign up for a free trial of Practical Law. Free trial. Already registered? Sign in to your account. Our Customer Support team are on hand 24 hours a day to help with queries:.

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