Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments

Chapter 1 Introduction NATURE OF THE SUBJECT AND SCHEME OF THE BOOK 1.01 General introduction Few things complicate the law as much as a project to simplify it. Not so long ago, a statement of the rules that defined and regulated the jurisdiction of an English court could be made, and explained, in a modest number of pages. If the defendant was in England and was served with the writ, the fact of service founded the jurisdiction of the court; and if the court had jurisdiction, it would exercise it. If the defendant was not in England, making service upon him would depend on first obtaining leave, 1 the process for doing (or for subsequently defending) which was a little more involved; but by and large a single set of rules applied to all defendants alike, and to all actions in personam .