exclusive jurisdiction

{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}

{{Short description|Legal arrangement of court cases}}

{{Use mdy dates|date = August 2012}}

Exclusive jurisdiction exists in civil procedure if one court has the power to adjudicate a case to the exclusion of all other courts. The opposite situation is concurrent jurisdiction (or non-exclusive jurisdiction) in which more than one court may take jurisdiction over the case.

Exclusive jurisdiction is typically defined in terms of subject matter.

For example, {{UnitedStatesCode|28|1334}} gives the United States district courts exclusive jurisdiction over all matters arising in bankruptcy with a few exceptions.

On the federal level, exclusive jurisdiction allows the US Supreme Court to review the decisions in lower courts.