This summary is not the rule. The rule text controls.
When a party raises certain early defenses in a case, like claiming the court has no jurisdiction, the case was filed in the wrong place, or the other side failed to state a valid claim, any party can ask the judge to decide these issues before the trial starts. This also applies to a motion for judgment on the pleadings. The idea is to sort out these basic legal problems early, so the case does not move forward on shaky ground.
The judge does not have to decide these issues before trial, though. If the judge thinks it makes more sense to wait, the judge can put off ruling on these defenses until the trial itself. This gives courts some flexibility to handle cases in the way that makes the most sense, rather than forcing every early defense to be decided right away.
For people involved in a lawsuit, this rule means you can push to get certain threshold problems resolved early, which can save time and money if the case has a fatal flaw. But it also means the judge has final say over when that decision actually happens.
