Subject matter jurisdiction, in civil procedure, is a legal term that signifies the types of claims or disputes over which a particular court has jurisdiction, or the power to render a decision.

State courts

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In the United States, many state court systems are divided into divisions such as criminal, civil, family, and probate. A court within any one of those divisions would lack subject matter jurisdiction to hear a case regarding matters assigned to another division. Most U.S. state court systems, however, include a superior court that has "general" jurisdiction; that is, it is competent to hear any case over which no other tribunal has exclusive jurisdiction.

U.S. Federal courts

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Subject matter jurisdiction is broadly developed in the United States federal courts, which derive their jurisdiction exclusively from the U.S. Constitution. The court's powers are defined by statute and the courts may not decide any case that is not within the constitutionally assigned jurisdiction. Litigants must show that they fall into one of two broad categories of subject matter jurisdiction: diversity jurisdiction and federal question jurisdiction. According to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a federal court may dismiss a case for lack of subject matter jurisdiction upon motion of a party or sua sponte, upon its own initiative. Lack of subject matter jurisdiction cannot be waived.

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Civil procedure | Legal terms