The document discusses parties to civil suits under Ethiopian law. It outlines the general requirements for parties, including that they must have the capacity and vested interest to sue or be sued. Plaintiffs must make allegations against defendants. Incapable persons are represented legally. The document also discusses representative class suits and agents/pleaders. It covers joinder of parties and causes of action, including the forms and types of permissive and mandatory joinder.
The document discusses parties to civil suits under Ethiopian law. It outlines the general requirements for parties, including that they must have the capacity and vested interest to sue or be sued. Plaintiffs must make allegations against defendants. Incapable persons are represented legally. The document also discusses representative class suits and agents/pleaders. It covers joinder of parties and causes of action, including the forms and types of permissive and mandatory joinder.
The document discusses parties to civil suits under Ethiopian law. It outlines the general requirements for parties, including that they must have the capacity and vested interest to sue or be sued. Plaintiffs must make allegations against defendants. Incapable persons are represented legally. The document also discusses representative class suits and agents/pleaders. It covers joinder of parties and causes of action, including the forms and types of permissive and mandatory joinder.
The document discusses parties to civil suits under Ethiopian law. It outlines the general requirements for parties, including that they must have the capacity and vested interest to sue or be sued. Plaintiffs must make allegations against defendants. Incapable persons are represented legally. The document also discusses representative class suits and agents/pleaders. It covers joinder of parties and causes of action, including the forms and types of permissive and mandatory joinder.
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 47
Chapter Three
Parties to and Dimension of Suits
Who are Parties to Suit?
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 1
Parties to a Civil Suit: General Requirements
• Parties to a civil suit known to be;
o plaintiff and defendant under first instance jurisdiction, and o under appellate jurisdiction called appellant and respondent. • Plaintiff - a party who makes an allegation & initiates proceedings before court, • Defendant - a person subject to a claim or a party against whom a claim is filed.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 2
But who can be a party plaintiff or and defendant? Common Requirement (art.33/1/ of civ.pro.co)
• A common requirement to a party plaintiff, party
defendant, intervener, third party defendant, is a capacity. • It refers to power or ability to perform juridical act/a party to a suit. • Capacity in civil litigation implies to an individual’s ability to represent his interest in a law- suit without the assistance of another. 02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 3 Cont’d….
• The rule under this law refers to persons who lack
personal qualification or capacity & can not be parties/can not be sued or be sued on their own behalf. • Principally every person is capable under art.192 & 196 of ci.co. • But disability can be resulted from general and special sources of incapacity.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 4
Cont’d….
General source of Special sources of
incapacity /art.193 incapacity/art.194 o This is due to physical or o This is due to the status or psychological conditions. special function of a person. o Include minors, insane and o Example, agents (see infirm persons and persons art.63 /status of being a subject to sentence and pleader/ of civil procedure deprived of some of their code). civil rights.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 5
Thus,
• Unless law declares persons as incapable, every
person is presumed capable to perform juridical acts. • Thus, every person can be a party to a civil suit. • So what is the fate of incapable a persons? See art.34 sub-1 of civil procedure code a legal representation.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 6
Special requirement: A Party Plaintiff; Vested Interest /art.33/2/ • Vested interest refers to possession of a right required to be enforced under the governing substantive law. • Since civil suits refer to individuals right vested interest is attached as prerequisite. • Vested interest is equated with the right of action or legal right forwarded by facts relied upon by the plaintiff/cause of action. What if there is no vested interest?
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 7
Consequences for Lack of vested interest?
• The result is based on objection raised by opponent
party and nature of the parties; • Unqualified party /244/2/(d), by defendant there by court may order substitution or addition of a party as a plaintiff (art.40 of civil procedure).
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 8
Party Defendant: allegations /art.33/3/ civ.proce.co./ • This is called relief/ see art.224 of civ.pro/ • A person sued must be the one responsible for the wrongs committed and claims arising therefrom. • Thus, a plaintiff should state or show the claim he/she is demanding against a defendant.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 9
How to Plead? Representation
• Is to mean to represent real parties to a suit.
• As you can understood from art.63 of ci. pro. Co. representation is a principle. • A court may order appearance of parties in certain circumstances. • There are two classes of representation; 1. representation for interest of others, and 2. representation for own interest and interest of others.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 10
Representation for interest of others: Legal Representation • This is a representation under art.34 of civ. pro. code. • A legal representative represents persons under incapacity because they cannot be parties to civil suits to protect their interest.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 11
Representation for own interest & interest of others: Representative Class Suits • This kind of representation is allowed pursuant to article 38 of civil procedure code. • It is allowed because a suit involves several persons and that it is inconvenient for all to be parties in terms of expeditious and economic justice. • However there are requirements for representation class suit. What re these requirements?
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 12
Requirements for Representation class suit
• The requirements for this representation to apply are
that; 1) the parties should have the same interest in a suit; 2) they agree to be represented; and 3) the number of parties is more than two since the provision demands the number of parties to be several.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 13
What is same interest?
• There is no definition given to the term under the
code. • All the members of a group to be represented have a common interest or a common grievance, and the relief they demand is beneficial to them all. • But it does not mean that the claim of parties has a single cause or that it arises from the same transaction only.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 14
Cont’d….. • It means that as plaintiffs, they must demand the same relief against the defendant for the same wrong committed against all of them; as defendants they must be invoking the same defense against the plaintiff on the same cause of action. • Thus, same interest means some thing more than same cause of action (same transaction).
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 15
Instances;
• Cases against administrative decisions, labor cases
etc.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 16
Agents and Pleaders /art.57 of civil procedure code/ • The requirement is that such representatives are able to answer all the material questions relating to a suit. • Refers to a person authorized by operation of law to act on behalf of a party to a suit. • A pleader is a person who holds an advocate’s license, and no person may appear in this capacity unless he holds such a license.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 17
Cont’d….
• A pleader has to produce his license together with a
letter of authorization from a person who authorized him.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 18
Joinder of Parties and Causes of Action
• Multiplication of parties & causes of action.
• How two or more plaintiffs bring action against a single or more defendants, & how many causes of actions can be made subject to a single suit.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 19
Joinder: Advantage and disadvantage
• It is helpful to pool their resources together and
enables them to share costs of pursuing a suit. • It also relieves a burden of court to resolve cases involving many persons or causes of action by a single suit. • It avoids the possibility of making conflicting decisions.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 20
Cont’d….. disadvantage
• It expands the scope of litigation and consequently
causes delay of proceedings. • It results in embarrassment of the defendant and makes him not to be able to properly defend himself.
Article 221 of the Civil Procedure Code tries to
strike a balance between these two conflicting interests toward joinder.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 21
Forms and Types of Joinder of Parties • Joinder of parties appears in different forms, 1) Two or more plaintiffs (which is known as joinder of plaintiffs) bring action against a single defendant; or 2) A single plaintiff brings action against two or more defendants (joinder of defendants); or 3) Two or more plaintiffs file a suit against two or more defendants (joinder of plaintiffs and joinder of defendants).
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 22
Cont’d…..
• Beyond that there are two types of joinder of parties,
namely; 1. Permissive joinder, and 2. Mandatory joinder.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 23
Permissive joinder /see art.35 of civ. pro/
• For joinder of plaintiffs in a civil suit two
requirements are describe; 1. the right to relief must arise from the same transaction whether jointly, severally or in the alternative, and 2. there is a common question of law or fact that would arise if such persons made separate suits.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 24
the same transaction Cont’d…..
• the claims of persons to join must be related in the
sense that they should arise from the same source. • The parties may claim different remedies but the source of claim must be similar. • In short terms it is to mean a series of acts that cause damage to some person.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 25
a common question of law or fact Cont’d…..
• All the parties share at least one common litigation
interest in the form of an issue of law or fact. • It refers to those questions of law or fact arising out of the claims in a particular case before the court.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 26
Joinder of defendants /see art.36 of civil procedure/ • refers to a situation where two or more persons are jointly sued by a single or more plaintiffs. • Unlike joinder of plaintiffs there is one requirement that applies to the joinder of defendants, a common question of law or fact.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 27
Effect of Misjoinder and Non-Joinder of Parties /see rt.39 of civil procedue/ • Under a permissive joinder, mis-joinder or non-joinder does not result in the defeat of case. • If a party is not joined or is improperly joined, the appropriate measure is to drop a party improperly joined and demand substitution, and proceed with the parties before a court. • If there is improper joinder of defendants, the plaintiff should be given option to drop the defendants improperly joinded or to proceed with separate suits. 02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 28 Mandatory Joinder/ joinder of indispensable parties/ • Parties are under obligation to bring a joint action or defense. • There is no choice given to parties other than a joint action or defense. • It applies to certain categories of persons required by substantive law to exercise their rights jointly at a time /example- joint owners, joint creditors or debtors, husband and wife over common property/.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 29
Cont’d….
• The interest and claim belongs to all of them and not
to one of them only. • The absence of one will necessarily affect one’s right, that is why they are considered to be indispensable party. • The other category comprises of those who can be affected by a decision given in their absence, as a solution oppose a decision as per art.358 of civil procedure code.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 30
Consequence if there is non- joinder of an indispensable party • For defendant- the court shall order the joinder of such party, by issuing summon on him (art.39 and 40/2/). • In non-joinder of an indispensible party plaintiff- no clear provision.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 31
Joinder of Causes of Action: Definition
• Refers to facts or occurrences that give rise to a claim
for relief without particular reference to the substantive law to be applied, or the nature of relief sought. • Parties are allowed to join as many causes of action as possible so long as joining of causes does not bring about delay of proceeding or embarrassment to a defendant. • Parties are allowed to join even unrelated claims /see art.217 of civil procedure code/. 02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 32 Cont’d….
• The exception to this rule is provided under art.218
and art.219. • A single plaintiff or plaintiffs with a joint interest may unite any number of claims against the same defendant or the same defendants jointly, so far as the joinder does not result in delay of considering a case or an embarrassment to defendant. (See, Art 221 of Cv. Pr. C)
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 33
Interventions: Conditions and Types
• This is a mechanism by which a party is brought into
a pending case to present a claim or defense. • It is different from joinder of parties because joinder is an issue that comes at the beginning of a suit, while intervention is a question that comes after a suit undergoes some steps.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 34
Types of intervention • There are two types of interventions, 1. by an application of a third party himself, and 2. As of obligation.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 35
by an application of a third party himself /see art.41 of cv.pro./ • A party who wants to intervene shall 1. File a written application in which he is expected to state reasons justifying his intervention, 2. The application shall be filed at any time before a decision is given, and 3. The party must be interested in suit between other parties.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 36
Cont’d…. • Since intervention widens the dimension of a dispute and causes delay of proceedings court should also take into account the need to settle a case involving many persons by a single decision.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 37
Effect of Intervention
• An application for intervention is granted,
proceedings are suspended until the original parties have been served with a copy of the statement of a party who is allowed to intervene. • The effect intervention produces is that a decision given on a case also binds the intervener. • What if an application for intervention is rejected? No clear provision but FSCCB decides one case.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 38
As of obligation: by public prosecutor /see art.41 of cv. pro./ • Public Prosecutor is under obligation to intervene, if parties concerned in such types of suit have initiated a suit. • Substantive law prescribes all of the cases demanding the intervention of the Public Prosecutor, civil status, incapacity, marriage and bankruptcy cases.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 39
Third-Party Practice [Impleader]
• Is a procedural device enabling the defendant in a
lawsuit to bring into a suit an additional party who may be liable for all or part of the original plaintiff’s claim against the defendant. • It is a mechanism by which a defendant brings into a suit a third party on the ground that such third party covers or shares the whole or part of claim of plaintiff.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 40
Purpose
• To settle claims involving the same cause of action/
transaction in a single suit. • Avoiding separate suits over the same cause of action/transaction. Thus, a defendant who has a claim against a third party does not need to bring a subsequent suit against him.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 41
Requirements for Third party practice • The requirement are; the defendant shall demand a court for the third party practice in his statement of defense, in his application, the defendant is supposed to indicate the reasons why he demands the intervention of the third party. the defendant should mention the extent of contribution or indemnity to be made or covered by such third party.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 42
What’s next?
• If the requirements are fulfilled, court issues summon
on the third party together with a copy of the statement of claim and the statement of defense and require him to appear at a fixed date. • Once he is ordered to be a party, he proceeds like a defendant in a normal action, he/she can make a counter claim or set-off against the original defendant (called third party plaintiff
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 43
Cont’d….
• The third party should appear and raise any objection
he may make to his intervention demanded by the defendant. • If third party fails to appear on the date he is supposed to appear, he is deemed to have admitted the existence of contribution or indemnity between him and the defendant.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 44
When does third party practice raised?
• The application for third party practice is subject to a
time limit. • The defendant should raise it as soon as he appears before a court to make a defense against a claim of the plaintiff.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 45
Change of parties • Unlike criminal case in civil suits, there is a possibility that others can replace the original parties upon death of one of them /art.48 of civil procedure/. • Whether or not the right to sue survives depends on the provisions of substantive law. • Unless the subject of a suit is related to a personal obligation of the deceased person, a suit is said to have survived a person’s death.
02/07/2023 Haileab Gebremedhin 46
Cont’d…
• If a court concludes hearing of a case and adjourns
the case to make a decision death of parties could not hinder from rendering a decision as provided under art. 53.
Uganda South Sudan Grain Traders Suppliers Association LTD V Government of The Republic of South Sudan (Miscellaneous Cause No 17 of 2012) 2013 UGCommC