Jura Mountains Mountain range, central Europe. It extends 225 mi (360 km) along the boundary of France and Switzerland. Its highest peak is Mount Neige, some 5,650 ft (1,700 m) high, located in France. Its western slopes are the source of the Doubs and Ain rivers in France.
Jurassic Period Interval of geologic time, 206-144 million years ago, that is one of the three major divisions of the Mesozoic Era, preceded by the Triassic Period and followed by the Cretaceous. During the Jurassic, Pangea began to break up into the present-day continents. Marine inver¬ tebrates flourished, and large reptiles dominated many marine habitats. On land, ferns. Mosses, cycads, and conifers thrived, some developing flowerlike structures in place of cones. The dinosaurs rose to supremacy on land, and by the end of the Jurassic the largest species had evolved. Archaeopteryx, the first primitive bird, appeared before the end of the period. Early mammals, tiny shrewlike creatures that appeared near the close of the preceding Triassic, managed to survive and evolve.
Jurchen dynasty See Juchen dynasty
jurisdiction Authority of a court to hear and determine cases. This authority is constitutionally based. Examples of judicial jurisdiction are: appellate jurisdiction, in which a superior court has power to correct legal errors made in a lower court; concurrent jurisdiction, in which a suit might be brought to any of two or more courts; and federal jurisdiction. A court may also have authority to operate within a certain territory. Summary jurisdiction, in which a magistrate or judge has power to conduct pro¬ ceedings resulting in a conviction without jury trial, is limited in the U.S. to petty offenses.
jurisprudence Science or philosophy of law. Jurisprudence may be divided into three branches: analytical, sociological, and theoretical. The analytical branch articulates axioms, defines terms, and prescribes the methods that best enable one to view the legal order as an internally con¬ sistent, logical system. The sociological branch examines the actual effects of the law within society and the influence of social phenomena on the sub¬ stantive and procedural aspects of law. The theoretical branch evaluates and criticizes law in terms of the ideals or goals postulated for it.
jury In law, a body of individuals selected and sworn to inquire into a question of fact and to render a verdict according to the evidence. Juries may deal with questions of law in addition to questions of fact, though federal juries in the U.S. are usually limited to dealing with questions of fact. The modem jury can vary in size depending on the proceeding but usually has either 6 or 12 members. By U.S. law, federal grand juries and petit juries must be “selected at random from a fair cross-section of the community in the district or division wherein the court convenes.” State jury selection varies somewhat. The Supreme Court of the United States has stated in a series of decisions that a jury is to be composed of “peers and equals” and that systematic exclusion from a jury of a particular class of people (e.g., on the basis of sex, skin colour, or ancestry) violates the equal-protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and the defendant’s right to a jury trial. A defendant is not, however, entitled to a jury of any particular composition. See also grand jury; petit jury; voir dire.
just-in-time manufacturing (JIT) Production-control system, developed by Toyota Motor Corp. and imported to the West, that has revolutionized manufacturing methods in some industries. By relying on daily deliveries of most supplies, it eliminates waste due to overproduc¬ tion and lowers warehousing costs. Supplies are closely monitored and quickly altered to meet changing demands, and small and accurate resup¬ ply deliveries must be made just as they are needed. Because there are no spares, the components must be free of defects. Plants wholly dedi¬ cated to the JIT concept require a logistics staff to schedule production, balancing product demand with plant capacity and availability of inputs. JIT has worked most effectively for large automobile manufacturers, which may have several thousand suppliers feeding parts into 100 facto¬ ries that assemble components for 20 assembly lines.
just war theory Set of conditions under which a resort to war is mor¬ ally legitimate (jus ad bellum ); also, rules for the moral conduct of war (jus in bello ). Among the proposed conditions for the just resort to war are that the cause be just (e.g., self-defense against an attack or the threat of imminent attack), that the authority undertaking the war be competent, that all peaceful alternatives be exhausted, and that there be a reasonable hope of success. Two of the most important conditions for the just con¬ duct of war are that the force used be “proportional” to the just cause the war is supposed to serve (in the sense that the evil created by the war must not outweigh the good represented by the just cause) and that mili¬ tary personnel be discriminated from innocents (noncombatant civilians), who may not be killed. The concept of just war was developed in the early Christian church; it was discussed by St. Augustine in the 4th cen¬ tury and was still accepted by Hugo Grotius in the 17th century. Interest in the concept thereafter declined, though it was revived in the 20th cen¬ tury in connection with the development of nuclear weapons (the use of which, according to some, would violate the conditions of proportional¬ ity and discrimination) and the advent of “humanitarian intervention” to put an end to acts of genocide and other crimes committed within the borders of a single state.
justice In philosophy, the concept of a proper proportion between a per¬ son’s deserts (what is merited) and the good and bad things that befall or are allotted to him or her. Aristotle’s discussion of the virtue of justice has been the starting point for almost all Western accounts. For him, the key element of justice is treating like cases alike, an idea that has set later thinkers the task of working out which similarities (need, desert, talent) are relevant. Aristotle distinguishes between justice in the distribution of wealth or other goods (distributive justice) and justice in reparation, as, for example, in punishing someone for a wrong he has done (retributive justice). The notion of justice is also essential in that of the just state, a central concept in political philosophy. See also law.
justice of the peace In Anglo-American legal systems, a local mag¬ istrate empowered chiefly to administer justice in minor cases. In the U.S., justices of the peace are elected or appointed and hear minor civil mat¬ ters and petty criminal cases. They may also officiate at weddings, issue arrest warrants, deal with traffic offenses, and hold inquests.
justification In Christian theology, the passage of an individual from sin to a state of grace. Some theologians use the term to refer to the act of God in extending grace to the sinner, while others use it to define the change in the condition of a sinner who has received grace. St. Paul used the term to explain how people moved from sin to grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus and not through any human effort. St. Augustine saw it as an act of God that makes sinners righteous, while Martin Luther stressed justification through faith alone.
Justin II (d. Oct. 4, 578) Byzantine emperor (565-78). He tolerated the Monophysite heresy until 571, then began to persecute its followers. Despite an alliance with the Franks, Justin lost parts of Italy to the Lombards after 568. He also suffered defeats at the hands of the Avars, to whom he promised to pay tribute (574), and the Western Turks, who seized lands in the Crimea. He invaded Persia in 572, but the Persians repulsed his army and invaded Byzantine territory, capturing Dara in 573. He became insane, and his general Tiberius (his adopted son) was effective ruler of the empire after 574.