Affirmative Defense Definition and Legal Meaning

On this page, you'll find the legal definition and meaning of Affirmative Defense, written in plain English, along with examples of how it is used.

What is Affirmative Defense?

n. ancillary jurisdiction allows a federal court to assert jurisdiction over claims that are not sufficiently related or subordinated to an action properly within the court’s subject matter jurisdiction. Usually, it is invoked to permit a federal court to adjudicate claims that technically are jurisdictionally defective so that the court can pass its judgement over the whole issue.