It is a function of law. In one word, it is power of the court to decide a dispute between parties. Every court is established by some laws and it usually the law establishing the court that also defines the jurisdiction of the court. In Madukolu&Ors v. Nkemdili, the court stated three conditions that must be in existence before the court can be said to have jurisdiction. These are:
- There must be constitution as to qualification and numbers of members of the bench and no member is disqualified for one reason or another.
- Subject matter of the dispute must be within the jurisdiction of the court and no feature in the case which prevents the court from exercising its jurisdiction.
- The case must have been brought to court in accordance with due process after satisfaction of relevant provisions on condition precedents.
There should be a distinction between procedural and substantive jurisdiction. Substantive jurisdiction is the jurisdiction that relate to the subject matter of the dispute. This kind of jurisdiction can be raised at anytime even at the Supreme Court for the first time. It can also be raised suomotu by the court.
Procedural jurisdiction relates to matters of practice such as : preaction notice, matters statute barred, res judicata, hence not being substantive jurisdiction must be done timeously. If it is not so done, then such party would be deemed to have waived it. Thus procedural jurisdiction cannot be raised at anytime but must be raised timeously.