JURISDICTION

Abstract

Jurisdiction assigns an actor the authority to speak in the name of the law. This chapter introduces the doctrinal principles of jurisdiction within a critical framework informed by the genealogy and material realities of jurisdiction. Drawing on the history of jurisdiction, the chapter reveals the concept’s simultaneously empowering and disempowering function. Based on this uncovering of the supposedly neutral function, the chapter demonstrates how jurisdiction doctrinally demarcates domestic and international spheres of competence today. In the concluding part, the chapter illustrates how jurisdiction as a conceptual lens can be used to approach questions of political community and practical authority.