Abstract
This paper examines the concept of jurisdiction and the competence of a court to adjudicate in a matter. Jurisdiction is the competence of a court to adjudicate in a matter and where it has been determined that a court is not competent to entertain an action brought before it, it means that, the court has no jurisdiction or that the court lacks jurisdiction to entertain the action before it. The paper states that, jurisdiction is the authority which a court has to decide matters that are litigated before it or to take cognizance of matters presented in a formal way for its decision. The paper further states that, a judgment delivered in an action outside the jurisdiction of the court amounts in law, to a nullity, irrespective of how well the proceeding was conducted by the trial Judge. Thus, jurisdiction is the very basis on which any tribunal tries a case and it is the lifeline of all trials. Where a court lacks jurisdiction, no amount of indolent conduct on the part of any of the parties, can ripen into the defence of waiver. The researcher adopts the doctrinal method of research. The objective of this paper is to reveal that, jurisdiction is basic to the entire adjudication and affects the power of the court to adjudicate on a matter. This paper concludes that, jurisdiction is of great importance in the administration of justice to the extent that, it has been described as the blood that gives life to the survival of an action and judgment or ruling delivered, or any proceedings filed, without jurisdiction is a nullity.
Author: B. O. Alloh
