5.01 Jurisdiction results from service of the claim form within the jurisdiction

If the defendant is within the territorial jurisdiction of the court and is served with the claim form, the act of service gives the court jurisdiction over the defendant in respect of the claim set out therein. A person within the territorial jurisdiction of the court was always liable to summoned to court simply because he, she, it was there. The beauty of this rule – one may hesitate to call it a jurisdictional rule – is that it is simple and clear. It requires no skill in statutory interpretation; it asks no question about the cause of action, its nature or the date on which it arose. It is not concerned with the identity, but only the whereabouts, of the person to be sued. It can be applied to a natural person, to an artificial person (albeit with a degree of elaboration), and to a ship. Service on the defendant within the jurisdiction establishes the jurisdiction of the court; and the jurisdiction of the court will be unquestioned and undisturbed unless the defendant applies to the court for what one might think of as ‘relief against service’.1