{{Short description|Court jurisdiction over only some kinds of matters}}'''Limited jurisdiction''', or '''special jurisdiction''', is the court's [[jurisdiction]] only on certain types of cases such as [[bankruptcy]], and [[Family law|family matters]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Gerald N. |title=The people's law dictionary : taking the mystery out of legal language |date=2002 |publisher=MJF Books |location=New York, NY |isbn=9781567315530}}</ref>
Courts of limited jurisdiction, as opposed to [[general jurisdiction]], derive power from an issuing authority, such as a [[constitution]] or a [[statute]]. Special jurisdiction courts must demonstrate that they are authorized to exert jurisdiction under their issuing authority. In contrast, general jurisdiction courts need only to demonstrate that they may assert in [[personal jurisdiction]] over a party.
==Differences==
Sometimes the term "special courts" is used to refer to courts of limited jurisdiction: "Special courts" has unfortunate connotations, however, because the designation is often given by totalitarian governments to tribunals set up to persecute government opponents or otherwise help commit human rights abuses.<ref>Moyer, Charles; Padilla, David, ''Executions in Guatemala as Decreed by the Courts of Special Jurisdiction in 1982-83: A Case Study'', Human Rights Quarterly, Vol. 6, Issue 4 (1984), pp. 507-520.</ref> That is a different kind of justice: not because it does not confer upon courts the power to hear only certain types of cases;<ref>In this sense, also administrative Courts have a limited jurisdiction: see Lee, Young Dae, ''Special Jurisdiction Courts in Korea: Case of the Administrative Court'', Korean Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 27, pp. 1-20, 27 Korean J. Int'l & Comp. L. 1 (1999).</ref> but above all because a [[political trial]] denies the basic principles of the [[due process of law]].
==Examples== Courts of limited jurisdiction "exist in virtually all modern nations. In the [[United States]], for instance, the federal court system includes several important courts of limited jurisdiction, including the [[U.S. Tax Court]], the [[U.S. Court of Federal Claims]], the U.S. Court of International Trade, and the [[U.S. Court of Military Appeals]]. Courts of limited jurisdiction exist in [[Spain]] and in many Latin American countries, such as [[Mexico]], [[Chile]], [[Venezuela]] and [[Brazil]]".<ref>Travieso-Diaz, Matias F., Musa, Armando A., ''Courts of Limited Jurisdiction in a Post-Transition Cuba'', 39 Vand. J. Transnat'l L. 125 (2006), p. 127.</ref>
Within state court systems of the United States, there are many types of limited jurisdiction courts. Limited jurisdiction court systems across the states vary widely from one another. Most state courts of limited jurisdiction hear [[criminal law|criminal]], [[probate]], [[juvenile delinquency|juvenile]], or [[domestic relations]] cases.<ref>Silbey, Susan S. ''What the Lower Courts Do: The Work and Role of Courts of Limited Jurisdiction'', US Department of Justice, Federal Justice Research Program, Office for Improvements in the Administration of Justice, 1979.</ref>
==See also== * [[Specialized court]] * [[General jurisdiction]]
==References== {{reflist}}
[[Category:Jurisdiction]]
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