Private jurisdiction is the right of an individual or a legal entity to establish courts of law.
A franchise, such as a corporation, a jurisdiction, or a right to collect certain tolls or taxes, was, in effect, a kind of property: an "incorporeal hereditament".
Under English law incorporeal hereditaments (including jurisdictions) were either granted or recognized in charters.
In medieval England franchises could also be established for jurisdiction over partially or entirely privatized administrative territories such as "hundreds" and counties.
Broad jurisdictional powers were also granted to many colonial corporations (such as the East India Company).