jurisdiction

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The power, right, or authority to interpret and apply the law.

   “legal jurisdiction”

   “The case falls outside the court’s jurisdiction.”

2. (countable, uncountable)The power or right to exercise authority.

   “outside the jurisdiction of”

3. (countable, uncountable)The power or right to perform some action as part of applying the law.

   “Police officers have no jurisdiction in that district.”

   “The Fife County Council, and other objectors, were successful in July [1950] in obtaining an interim interdict against this decision, but the Court of Session withdrew the interdict in January, and it was then stated that a civil court had no jurisdiction in the matter.”

   “The Appeal Division of the Social Security Tribunal held that it was without jurisdiction to extend the statutorily established one-year time limit for a complainant to apply to rescind or amend a decision.”

4. (countable, uncountable)The authority of a sovereign power to govern or legislate.

   “Thus fell that glorious Minion of Edward the Second, who for a time appeared liked [sic.] a blazing Comet, and sway'd the jurisdiction of the state of England, and her Confederates.”

5. (countable, uncountable)The limits or territory within which authority may be exercised.

   “The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them[…]is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies.[…]current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate[…]“stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.”