What is procedural complicity?

Traditionally, the civil process is controversial, which presupposes the presence of two parties in a dispute. They are the plaintiff and the defendant. The first party to the proceedings is a person (natural or legal) who directly sued in its own interests, or in whose interests an application for a right was filed. The second character of the process is a person whose actions are presented with a complaint. All this is quite accessible and understandable. But what is procedural complicity in civil proceedings? The above term has a meaning that differs from that in criminal law. Consider the meaning of this concept.

Processual complicity in the civil process

A classic option is the participation on each side of one person, that is, the presence of a single plaintiff and defendant. But practice shows that this is not always the case. It happens that several plaintiffs act as plaintiffs, defendants or both sides. This is procedural complicity. Its basis is the ownership of the disputed rights or obligations to several persons, as well as consideration of the judicial economy when considering several claims. The procedural complicity in the judicial process has a special purpose. It is a fast and effective protection of the violated or contested right.

Substantive legal grounds for complicity

Processual complicity should always be based on certain circumstances and facts. It occurs if:

• The subject of the dispute is the rights and obligations common to the parties;
• The powers of plaintiffs and defendants are based on the same legal or factual basis;
• The content of the claim is made up of homogeneous interests or obligations.

Depending on these criteria, the separation of procedural complicity into a mandatory and optional is made. Necessary is the case if it is based on the first and second above mentioned reasons. An optional one arises when there is a third criterion named above.

The difference of procedural complicity from other types of participation in the civil process

The Civil Procedure Code distinguishes between complicity and other types of participation in the proceedings. This phenomenon occurs only with respect to the plaintiff and the defendant. So, it is necessary to understand the concept of the party in the civil process. The plaintiff and the defendant are always of material and legal interest, protect their own rights, dispose of the object of the dispute, bear the costs of the case. They are subject to all the consequences of the judgment, they can refuse the claim, conclude a peace agreement, and also exercise their other procedural rights and obligations. Thus, the lawyer does not act as an accomplice in the civil process, as witnesses, third parties and other participants in the proceedings. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish the categories of subjects participating in the resolution of the dispute.