Monograph Series · Third series › Part VII Combining remedies and the gaps that remain › III-46 · First edition
The Right to Litigate Together: The Effects of Independence, Uniform Determination, and Appointment
Under what conditions does one person's procedural act open or close the remedy for another person's right?
Volume contents
Abstract
This volume asks under what conditions one person's procedural act opens or closes the path to relief for another person's rights. The requirements for joint participation and the attribution of the effects of acts are distinct. Ordinary, necessary, and preliminary co-litigation, as well as the change of parties resulting from selection, must be distinguished so that another person's act does not erase one's own relief. The path to relief opens where the effects of acts are attributed in accordance with the type of co-litigation and the statutory effects of uniform determination or of a change through selection are maintained, and closes where an ordinary co-litigant's confession shuts off another person's dispute or where some of the claims requiring statutory uniform determination are left outstanding while the rest are disposed of. The six sections address, in turn, the basis for joint participation, the confession of a fellow party, protection when determining together, acts of the opposing party and procedural impediments, the party remaining after selection, and mutually incompatible claims. The strongest counterargument is as follows. Preserving the independence of parties may produce contradictory determinations and delay common relief. Certification, the presumption of the amount of loss, and opt-out notices in securities class actions, as well as the preparation of case relationship diagrams, are not addressed in this volume.
Synthetic case
The whole volume follows this invented case. It is not a real matter, and its facts are not legal findings.
Co-plaintiffs A and B stood in the same courtroom, and only A admitted Defendant C's account. The type of co-litigation is disputed.
6 sections and their questions
- 01The Basis for Joint Participation
Where there are many victims, are their acts also attributed to one another?
18 min - 02The Admission of a Fellow Party
Is another co-litigant also bound by the facts acknowledged by one co-litigant?
18 min - 03Protection When Determining Together
Where uniform determination is required, does an unfavorable act by one co-litigant alone also bind all?
19 min - 04Acts of the Opposing Party and Procedural Impediments
In co-litigation, which acts directed at, and which impediments affecting, one co-litigant extend to all?
21 min - 05The Party Remaining After Selection
Where the parties are replaced by a selected party during the litigation, does the original person remain a party?
20 min - 06Mutually Incompatible Claims
Where it is disputed in the alternative whose claim it is, may judgment be rendered on only some of the claims?
18 min