Professional Documents
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Joinder of Parties
Joinder of Parties
1. Joinder of Parties
a. Order 15 Rule 4(1)
i. Two or more persons may be joined together in one action as co-P or co-D with
the leave of the court @ where it involves common question of law or facts @
rights arise out of the same transaction or series of the same transaction
b. Circumstances
i. Two or more parties have causes of action against D arising out of a common
complaint
1. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge v George Gill
a. D used the name of the Ps for publication where in fact there was
no permission given
b. HELD – common question of facts would arise even though
different parties – issues of publication and inducement to
believe the Ps were the one publishing such books
ii. P claims relief in which other person is entitled jointly with him
iii. P wants to join all Ds against whom he has a cause of action (i.e. joint liability)
2. Misjoinder of Parties
a. Order 15 Rule 6(1)– misjoinder will not defeat the cause of action and the Ct may still
determine the dispute which affected the rights and interest of the parties
b. Order 15 Rule 6(2)(a) – Ct may at any stage of the proceedings order the person who has
been improperly made a party to cease to be a party
c. Order 15 Rule 6(2)(b) – Ct may order any person necessary to ensure that the dispute is
effectually and completely determined @ if it is just and convenient with regards to
person whom questions or issues arise
1. KL Finance v Azmi & Co
a. Loan secured by a charge over a piece of land – defected – later
found out the valuation notice was defective – value of the land
is insufficient to cover the loan – the bank sued the valuers
b. Ds claimed that 3rd party was involved in giving false
representation and applied to add them as parties to the
proceeding as 3rd and 4th D
c. HELD – “Main object of O 15 r 6(2) of the RHC is to prevent a
multiplicity of proceedings. The court has a wide discretion to
make an order so that all matters in dispute can be effectually
and completely determined and adjudicated upon… A person
who is not a party may be added as a defendant against the
wishes of the plaintiff either on the application of the defendant
or on his own intervention, or by the court of its own motion -
the jurisdiction of the court is entirely discretionary”
e. Adding or substituting P
i. Not allowed if it will deny D from the defence of limitation
1. Gov of Malaysia v Mohd Amin Hassan
a. Fatal accident – collided with government vehicle – son died,
husband and wife injured – sue for negligence - 3 years
limitation period – PAPA – filed within time as the
representative of the deceased‟s estate (so cannot claim for
dependency) – after limitation period lapsed– apply to the Ct to
include their names suing in personal capacity – only husband
allowed – appeal by D was rejected until Supreme Ct
b. HELD – despite the issue on fresh or distinct cause of action (in
suing as administrator and in personal capacity) – if the Ct
allowed, D will be denied of the defence of limitation –
prejudiced on the part of D
f. Adding or substituting D
1. Dato Dr Haji Mohd Haniffa
a. Intervention appeal - Ps claimed against 20 Ds – KDMB later
applied to intervene and be added as co-D – claimed that if there
was misconduct, the damages is payable to them and not Ps –
however KDMB‟s rights had never been affected and it was also
not a party to the agreement made
b. HELD – “KDMB is not a necessary party- not directly affected
by any order that may be made by the High Court on the merits
of the plaintiffs' claim against the existing defendants. Further,
since no claim has been made against it by the plaintiffs or any
other existing party to the action, it has failed to bring itself
within the sub-para (ii) of the rule. Accordingly the High Court
had no jurisdiction to permit KDMB to intervene and be added
as a party to the suit.” – Gopal Sri Ram JCA
g. Adding Co-D by D
1. Hee Awa v Syed Mohd Sazalay
a. Road accident – between a motorcycle and a government van –
pillion rider killed, passenger in the van injured – the parents of
the deceased pillion rider took action against the driver of the
van and the government
b. Ds later applied to add the rider of the said motorcycle to be
added as a party – HCt allowed – P appealed
c. HELD – well within the ambit of Order 15 Rule 6(2)(b) – applies
even to the D‟s application – the Ct has jurisdiction to allow if
satisfied – in this case to be effectually and completely
determined
h. Intervention
i. Test – whether the applicant‟s rights is directly affected by any order made by the
Ct in that particular action
1. Pegang Mining
a. Interest means legal interest and not commercial interest which
will be directly affected by the order of the Ct