What is "contentious jurisdiction"

Contentious \Con*ten"tious\, a. [L. contentiosus: cf. F. contentieux.]

1. Fond of contention; given to angry debate; provoking dispute or contention; quarrelsome.

   Despotic and contentious temper.
   --Macaulay.

2. Relating to contention or strife; involving or characterized by contention.
   --Spenser.

   More cheerful, though not less contentious, regions.
   --Brougham.

3. (Law) Contested; litigated; litigious; having power to decide controversy.

   Contentious jurisdiction (Eng. Eccl. Law), jurisdiction over matters in controversy between parties, in contradistinction to voluntary jurisdiction, or that exercised upon matters not opposed or controverted.

   Syn: Quarrelsome; pugnacious; dissentious; wrangling; litigious; perverse; peevish. -- Con*ten"tious*ly, adv. -- Con*ten"tious*ness, n.

In English ecclesiastical law, contentious jurisdiction ( Latin: forum contentiosum) is jurisdiction over matters in controversy between parties, in contradistinction to voluntary jurisdiction, or that exercised upon matters not opposed or controverted.

The Lords Chief Justices, judges, etc., had a contentious jurisdiction; but, the Lords of the Treasury, the Commissioners of Customs, etc., have none, being merely judges of the accounts.