FEDERAL COURTS - PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING JURISDICTION AB FACTO - BURDEN OF PLEADING AND PROOF

Authors

Richard B. Maxwell, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow

Abstract

Since the beginning of our government it has been recognized that the federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. At an early date it was decided that because of this the plaintiff must state in his complaint the facts upon which the jurisdiction depended. The reason given in support of this rule, which is still the unquestioned law, is that there is no presumption of jurisdiction in courts which have only limited jurisdiction, but it is presumed not to exist unless its existence be shown upon the record. When the plaintiff sustained his burden of pleading the jurisdictional facts, his allegation was taken as true and it was assumed that the court had jurisdiction unless the defendant chose to put the matter in issue.

Recommended Citation

Richard B. Maxwell, FEDERAL COURTS - PROCEDURE FOR DETERMINING JURISDICTION AB FACTO - BURDEN OF PLEADING AND PROOF, 36 Mich. L. Rev. 619 (1938).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol36/iss4/7