Joining a third party to civil proceedings

Under Article 219(1) of the Code of Civil Procedure, a third party can be joined in support of a party to the proceedings only if the third party would itself be entitled to intervene in support of that party. At first sight the wording refers to the intervener’s legal interest. Yet legal scholarship and case law agree that the party seeking joinder must also have a legal interest. Intervention and joinder share the same basis in substantive law: a right of the party receiving support, or a legal relationship between that party and the third party, which may be affected by the outcome. By seeking joinder, the principal party seeks to bind the third party to the findings in the reasons for the judgment if the case is decided against it. Its interest lies in the likely existence of rights against the third party that it could subsequently enforce. In deciding whether such an interest exists, the court must therefore take as its starting point the opposing principal party’s assertion about the subject matter of the action.

For example, a claimant seeking a declaration that a legal relationship exists has a legal interest in joining a third party if the absence of that relationship would indicate that the claimant has rights against the third party. Conversely, the defendant has an interest in joinder if the existence of the disputed right would indicate that the defendant has rights against the third party.

This article is not a legal opinion or advice on any particular situation or person. For legal assistance in a similar case, consult a civil lawyer.