Original Jurisdiction

first court which ruled on a claim

The original jurisdiction of a court is the right to hear a case for the first time as opposed to appellate jurisdiction when a court has the right to review the decision of a previous, lower-level court.
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That which is given to courts to take cognizance of cases which may be instituted in those courts in the first instance. The Constitution of the United States gives the Supreme Court of the United States original jurisdiction in cases which affect ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and to those in which a state is a party.
   

This entry contains material from Bouvier's Legal Dictionary, a work published in the 1850's.