When may the court bring a third party into an administrative case, and who may ask for it?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the application asking that a third party be joined, the complaint and written statement of claim showing what outcome is sought, any paper setting out the third party's rights or interests, and the court's ruling with a note that the parties and the third party were heard.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision in its order: the court, in a case under the Administrative Litigation Act, may by a ruling join a third party who would suffer infringement of rights or interests by the outcome of the litigation, on an application by a party or by that third party, or on the court's own motion, and before making that ruling the court must hear the opinions of the parties and the third party.
Another reading stresses the discretion and its edge: the court "may" join, so an application does not by itself compel joinder, and the right to immediate objection belongs only to a third party who made the application and only against a ruling dismissing that application, leaving the provision silent on a refusal made on the court's own motion.
Your judgment
Where a third party has made no application and the court declines joinder, what in the record would still show that the outcome would infringe that party's rights or interests?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We revisit this card if the provision is amended to change who may apply or what counts as infringement of rights or interests, or if a court decision sets the standard for joining a third party under it.