Terms Used In Maryland Code, COURTS AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS 3-403

  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
(a) Except for the District Court, a court of record within its jurisdiction may declare rights, status, and other legal relations whether or not further relief is or could be claimed. An action or proceeding is not open to objection on the ground that a declaratory judgment or decree is prayed for.

(b) The enumeration in §§ 3-406, 3-407, 3-408, and 3-408.1 of this subtitle does not limit or restrict the exercise of the general powers conferred in subsection (a) of this section in any proceeding where declaratory relief is sought and in which a judgment or decree will terminate the controversy or remove an uncertainty.