jurisdiction

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun Law The right of a court to hear a particular case, based on the scope of its authority over the type of case and the parties to the case.
• noun Authority or control.
• noun The extent of authority or control.
• noun The territorial range of authority or control.

from The Century Dictionary.

• noun Judicial authority; the legal power of hearing and determining controversies or accusations; the right of exercising the functions of a judge or of a legal tribunal.
• noun Controlling authority; the right of making and enforcing laws or regulations; the capacity of determining rules of action or use, and exacting penalties: as, the jurisdiction of a state over its subjects.
• noun The domain within which power is exercised; specifically, the territory over which the authority of a state, court, or judge extends.
• noun The function or capacity of judging or governing in general; the natural right to judge; inherent power of decision or control.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• noun (Law) The legal power, right, or authority of a particular court to hear and determine causes, to try criminals, or to execute justice; judicial authority over a cause or class of causes.
• noun The authority of a sovereign power to govern or legislate; the right of making or enforcing laws; the power or right of exercising authority.
• noun Sphere of authority; the limits within which any particular power may be exercised, or within which a government or a court has authority.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun the power, right, or authority to interpret and apply the law
• noun the power or right to exercise authority
• noun the authority of a sovereign power to govern or legislate
• noun the limits or territory within which authority may be exercised

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

• noun (law) the right and power to interpret and apply the law
• noun in law; the territory within which power can be exercised