LITIGATION IS A SKILLED PROFESSION (part 5)
Duty to submit exhibits
It can of course happen that it is not a plaintiff but the defendant or a third party who has the documents by which the plaintiff can prove the existence and extent of his claim. There is a separate procedure by which such documents can be demanded. This procedure, better known as the duty to submit exhibits of Section 843a of the Code of Civil Procedure requires several conditions which must be satisfied before the court can allow that claim (exhibitieplicht).
Many other issues can play a role. I will mention a few. Say that you are the defendant in a lawsuit but you have assigned the legal relationship on which the claim is based to a third party. Or there is a third party who stated with regard to you that if you would be sued at law, he would indemnify you (vrijwaren). Depending on the concrete facts and circumstances there will be various possibilities. You can call the third party into the action (in vrijwaring oproepen). This is called a third-party practice. Before the court can settle this issue the plaintiff can also express his views about such a third-party being called. It is also possible that a third party wants to intervene in the procedure either on the part of the plaintiff or on the part of the defendant (voeging), or by intervention (tussenkomen).
Another example: the law has the possibility to rectify apparent errors in a decision of the court as well as the possibility of supplementing it when a court has failed to deal with any part of what is being claimed. A rectification can take place in the court’s official capacity or at the request of a party, a supplement only at the request of a party. So, in such cases it would not be necessary to remedy this via an appeal. (To be continued)
Karel Frielink
Attorney (Lawyer) / Partner
(24 May 2013)
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