Original jurisdiction

Original jurisdiction is the right of a court to be the first to hear a certain type of case. Generally these courts are lower courts which only hear cases of original jurisdiction (such as a justice of the peace court hearing an eviction case).

However, in some cases, a court with primary appellate jurisdiction will also have original jurisdiction in other matters. For example, the United States Supreme Court has original jurisdiction under the Eleventh Amendment in cases involving: 1) two or more states, 2) a state and the United States, 3) a state and the citizens of another state, and 4) foreign diplomats.