Jurisdiction Ratione Materiae

• Also known as subject-matter jurisdiction refers to

the court's authority to decide a particular case. It
is the jurisdiction over the nature of the case and
the type of relief sought; the extent to which a
court can rule on the conduct of persons or the
status of things.
Jurisdiction ratione in personae

• Jurisdiction will depend on whether or not

the defendant is within the territory of the
court or is a citizen of that court's nation.
In the two latter cases, jurisdiction is said
to be by reason of the person, ratione
personae.
• In international law, the maxim has been applied to express the rule
of law that only a state privy to an international treaty may be the
subjected to the dispute resolution process - judicial
or arbitration or other - provided for in the relevant treaty.
• If a complaint was levied against an American living in the United
States, pursuant to the European Convention on Human Rights, the
European Human Rights Commission would not proceed to hear the
complaint and would declare that it did not have jurisdiction ratione
personae to hear the complaint. Similarly, if a complaint is filed
pursuant to an international treaty but against a non-member, the
same lack of jurisdiction ratione personae would apply.
• "Ratione personae: only states may be party to a contentious case
before the ICJ...."
• States and international agencies utilize several devices to get around
the ratione personaedifficulty. One such device is to organize the
treaty through the auspices of the United Nations, thus enhancing the
credibility of the treaty to states and encouraging them to sign on at
which point, they are bound ratione personae. Another technique is
for domestic criminal or civil law to declare that it would have
jurisdiction over, for example, the child sexual abuse offences
committed by one of their nationals anywhere in the world. Similarly
for terrorist activities or airline traffic offences.
Jurisdiction Ratione Temporis or temporal
jurisdiction
• refers to the jurisdiction of a court of law over a
proposed action in relation to the passage of
time. The court can either lose temporal
jurisdiction because the deadline for litigation of
the particular action has expired, or it has
temporal jurisdiction because it was launched
within the prescribed time limitations.