An Answer was duly filed by which, while certain allegations of the petition are denied, the main facts are admitted. The denials referred chiefly not to fact alleged in the petition but to conclusions which the petitioner draws from facts. We are of the opinion that the petition does not state facts sufficient to warrant the relief prayed for. Certiorari, as a necessary consequence, will not lie to correct errors. It will not be issued to cure errors in the proceedings or to correct erroneous conclusions of law or of fact.
Jurisdiction is the authority to hear and determine a cause - the right to act in a case.
Since it is the power to hear and determine, it does not depend either upon the regularity of the exercise of that power or upon the rightfulness of the decisions made. Jurisdiction should, therefore, be distinguished from the exercise of jurisdiction. The authority to decide a cause at all, and not the decision rendered therein, is what makes up jurisdiction. None of the acts set out in the petition affect the jurisdiction of the Court. As We have said so many times, it is always necessary to bear in mind the difference between jurisdiction and the exercise of jurisdiction.