Concurrent Jurisdiction

noun (uncountable; legal term of art)

/kənˈkɜːrənt ˌdʒʊərɪsˈdɪkʃən/

The authority of two or more courts or legislative bodies to deal simultaneously with the same subject matter. Under the Seventh Schedule of the Indian Constitution, Schedule III lists subjects on which both Parliament and State Legislatures may legislate; in case of repugnancy, the central law prevails under Article 254. In judicial terms, concurrent jurisdiction means a matter may be heard by more than one forum, such as High Courts and NCLT over certain company law disputes.

✍️ Usage in a UPSC answer

Education, being placed on the Concurrent List after the 42nd Amendment (1976), is subject to concurrent jurisdiction, enabling both Parliament and state legislatures to legislate on it, with parliamentary law prevailing in cases of conflict.

Synonyms

shared jurisdictionoverlapping authorityjoint competencedual jurisdiction

Antonyms

exclusive jurisdictionsole jurisdictionsingle-court competence

🌱 Word Family

concurrent (adjective), jurisdiction (noun), jurisdictional (adjective), concurrently (adverb)

🔡 Root

Latin concurrere (to run together) ← con- (together) + currere (to run) + jurisdictio ← juris (of law) + dictio (saying)

📜 Etymology

Both components are Latin. Concurrent from concurrere (to coincide, to run together); jurisdiction from jurisdictio (the saying of the law), used in Roman legal texts. The combined term became standard in common law treatises by the 18th century.

🧠 Memory Hook

CONCURRENT = running together at the same time (think concurrent sessions). CONCURRENT JURISDICTION = two lawmakers or courts running the same legal race simultaneously.

⚖️ Polity & Constitution 📖 Seen in: Preamble of the Indian Constitution

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