Civpro 9
CIVIL PROCEDURE NOTES COMPILED UNIVERSITY OF SAN CARLOS COLLEGE OF LAW
correct the decision of a lower court, the power of this court is appellate. This is because it is commenced
somewhere else and it is just reviewing the decision of the said lower court.
Note that in certiorari petition, the action of the superior court is not to correct but to annul. The power exercised
by the superior court is the power of control and supervision over an inferior court, not appellate, that is, to limit
the inferior court within its jurisdiction, its authority.
3. EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION and CONCURRENT OR COORDINATE JURISDICTION
a.) EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION is that possessed by a court to the exclusion of all others.
b.) CONCURRENT or COORDINATE JURISDICTION is that possessed by the court together with another or other
courts over the same subject matter, the court obtaining jurisdiction first retaining it to the exclusion of the others,
but the choice of court is lodged in those persons duly authorized to file the action. (Villanueva vs. Ortiz, 58 O.G.
1318, Feb. 12, 1962)
Q: Are there certain types of cases or petitions where I can file it directly with the SC or file with the CA or file it
with the RTC?
A: YES and the best example is a petition for HABEAS CORPUS. The SC, CA and RTC share concurrent jurisdiction to
entertain petitions for habeas corpus.
In effect, these are the instances when the SC, CA and RTC exercise concurrent jurisdiction. There can also be
concurrent jurisdiction among branches of a multiple sala court.
Exclusionary Principle
The court first acquiring jurisdiction excludes all others.
Another principle that may be relevant is the policy of judicial hierarchy.
4. TERRITORIAL AND EXTRA-TERRITORIAL
Territorial jurisdiction - exercised within the limits of the place where the court is located.
Extra-territorial jurisdiction - exercised beyond the confines of the territory where the court is located.
Examples: Writs of certiorari, prohibition and mandamus are enforceable only within the region where the issuing
court is located; while a writ of execution can be enforced even outside said territory.
ELEMENTS OF JURISDICTION IN CIVIL CASES
The word jurisdiction as applied to the faculty of exercising judicial power is used in different but related senses
which are:
1. The authority of the court to entertain a particular kind of action, or
2. Administer a particular kind of relief depending on the issues raised;
3. It may refer to the power of the court over or to bind the parties, or
4. Over or to bind the property which is the subject of the litigation.
In your study of criminal procedure where you also studied the law on jurisdiction, we studied the authority of the
court over the cases as determined by the imposable penalty; its authority to bind the accused and the
prosecution; its authority to grant the relief which is either acquittal or conviction and over the place where the
offense charged is alleged to have been committed.
So there are what we call elements of jurisdiction in criminal cases, otherwise, the proceeding will be illegal. These
elements are:
1. Jurisdiction over the subject matter;
2. Jurisdiction over the person of the accused; and
3. Territorial jurisdiction, i.e. the case should be filed in the place where the crime was committed.
Q: What are the elements of jurisdiction in civil cases?
A: The following:
a.) Jurisdiction over the subject matter ;
b.) Jurisdiction over the person of the parties to the case;
c.) Jurisdiction over the res; and
d.) Jurisdiction over the issues.
Q: Now, what happens if in a particular case one of these is missing?
A: The proceedings become questionable. The proceedings become void. The judgment is not binding. That is the
effect of lack of jurisdiction. The proceedings are tainted with illegality and irregularity.
A. JURISDICTION OVER THE SUBJECT MATTER
Q: Define jurisdiction over the subject matter.
A: Jurisdiction over the subject matter is the power of the court to hear and determine cases of the general class to
which the proceedings in question belong. (Banco Español-Filipino vs. Palanca, 37 Phil. 291)
In other words, it is the jurisdiction over the nature of the action. In criminal cases you have light, less grave and
grave offenses. In civil cases we have such actions as actions for sum of money, actions not capable of pecuniary
estimation, real and personal actions, action in rem, action in personam etc. This is what we call the NATURE or
classification OF THE ACTION.
When a complaint is filed in court, the basic questions that ipso facto are to be immediately resolved by the court
on its own are
