Members of the legal profession act as agents for their clients and advocate their rights in court, promoting and protecting their clients’ interests by taking a partisan stance on behalf of their clients.
It ensures that persons whose rights may be adversely affected by litigation have the opportunity for their 'day in court' to be heard and to present proof in support of their claim or defense.
Provisions include jurisdiction of civil court, stay of suit, res judicata, place of suing, institution of suits, summons to defendants and witnesses, judgment and decree, interest, costs, execution of decree and order, limitation of time for execution of decree, arrest and detention of defendant or judgment-debtor in civil prison, attachment and sale of property, issue of commission and reference, suits by or against the government, interpleader suits, special cases for the opinion of court, supplemental proceedings, appeal from decree or order, reviews of decree or order, extension of time, miscellaneous proceedings, and inherent power of the court.
Order 9, rule 1 provides that any application to or appearance or act in any court required or authorized by the law to be made or done by a party in such court may, except where otherwise expressly provided by any law for the time being in force, be made or done by the party in person, or by his recognized agent, or by an advocate duly appointed to act on his behalf.
Civil procedure governs actions such as the way in which service of process is made upon a defendant, the number of days and manner in which parties may discover one another’s evidence, and the manner in which parties may present their controversies or objections to the court.
The Civil Procedure Rules, 2010 are created under section 81 of the Civil Procedure Act Cap 21.
The first part consists of sections which constitute the main body of the Code, and the second part consists of Rules which refer to matters of machinery for working out the main provisions enacted in the sections.
Article 50 guarantees that every person has the right to have any dispute resolved by the application of law decided in a fair and public hearing before a court or another independent and impartial tribunal or body.
Courts have the power and authority to dismiss lawsuits and/or deny remedies if procedural rules are not followed.
Procedural law is intended to safeguard vested rights in life, liberty, and property guaranteed by the Constitution.
The Act governs how a lawsuit or case may be commenced, the kind of service of process required, types of pleadings, motions or applications, orders allowed in civil cases, timing and manner of motions and discovery, conduct of trials, process for judgment, available remedies, and how courts and clerks must function.
A suit or proceedings in civil cases is regulated by the provisions of the Civil Procedure Act, the Evidence Act Cap 80, and the Limitation of Actions Act Cap 22.
No, civil suits and proceedings cannot be started and defended by a layman as the rules of procedure of civil cases are full of technicalities for which a competent lawyer fully conversant with the rules of procedure is to be engaged.
The Civil Procedure Rules, 2010 provide detailed provisions regarding parties to the suit, frame of suits, recognized agents and advocates, institution of suits, issue and service of summons, pleadings, plaint, written statement and set off, appearance of parties and consequence of non-appearance, pre-trial directions and conferences, discovery and inspection, admissions, production and return of documents, framing of issues and determination of suit on issues of law or on issues agreed upon, summons and attendance of witnesses, adjournments, hearing of suit and examination of witnesses, affidavits, judgment and decree, execution of decrees, and orders by delivery of property, attachment and sale of property and other modes, death, marriage and insolvency of parties and substitution of parties, withdrawal and adjustment of suits, payment into court, security for cost, commissions to examine witnesses, for local investigations, to examine accounts, and to make partition, suits by or against government or public official in their official capacity, suits by or against military or naval men or airmen, suits by or against corporations, suits by or against firms and persons carrying on business in names other than their own, suits by or against trustees, executors and administrators, suits by or against minors and persons of unsound mind, suits by paupers, suits relating to mortgage of immovable property, interpleader suits, special cases, summary procedures on negotiable instruments, arrest and attachment before judgment, temporary injunctions and interlocutory orders, appointments of receiver, appeals from decrees, appeals from orders, pauper appeals, references, reviews, and miscellaneous provisions.
Unless a lawyer is conversant with the provisions of the Civil Procedure Act, he cannot successfully file and proceed with or defend a civil suit, nor can a judge properly adjudicate the same.
