Order 7 - Third Party Procedure
ACTIONS BY AND AGAINST FIRMS AND PERSONS CARRYING ON BUSINESS IN NAMES OTHER THAN THEIR OWN
1. Where in any action a defendant claims as against any person not already a party to the action (in this Order called ‘‘the third party’’)
(a) that he is entitled to contribution or indemnity;
(b) that he is entitled to any relief or remedy relating to or connected with the original subject matter of the action and substantially the same as some relief or remedy claimed by the plaintiff;
(c) that any question or issue relating to or connected with the said subject matter is substantially the same as some question or issue arising between the plaintiff and the defendant and should properly be determined not only as between the plaintiff and the defendant but as between the plaintiff and the defendant and the third party or between any or either of them, the Court may give leave to the defendant to issue and serve a third party notice and may, at the same time, if it shall appear desirable to do so, give the third party liberty to appear at the trial and take such part therein as may be just, and generally give such directions as to the Court shall appear proper for having any question or the rights or liabilities of the parties most conveniently determined and enforced and as to the mode and extent in or to which the third party shall be bound or made liable by the decision or judgment in the action.
2. The application for such leave shall be made by motion on notice to the plaintiff in accordance with Form 6C as set out in the Schedule of Forms attached hereto. Unless the plaintiff wishes to add the third party as a defendant, his attendance at the hearing of the motion shall not be necessary. If the plaintiff does attend he shall not be entitled to costs in respect of the motion except by special direction of the Court.
3. Application for leave to issue the third party notice shall, unless otherwise ordered by the Court, be made after the service of an Appearance and at any time prior to the trial of the action.
4. The third party notice shall state the nature and grounds of the claim or the nature of the question or issue sought to be determined and all information required to be set out in the indorsement of a Civil Bill as provided for in these rules and any directions of the Court given under Rule 1 hereof. The third party notice shall be issued and served in the same manner as in the case of a Civil Bill and shall be served within twenty-one days of the making of the Order unless otherwise directed by the Court. A copy of the Civil Bill and defence together with a copy of the Order joining the third party shall be served with the third party notice which said third party notice shall also be served upon the Plaintiff(s). Where the third party is joined as a defendant, an amended Civil Bill together with a copy of the Order joining the third party as a defendant shall be served upon all defendants by the plaintiff within twenty-one days of the making of the Order unless otherwise directed by the Court. Any amended defence of an original defendant to the proceedings shall be served upon the plaintiff within ten days from the date of service of the amended Civil Bill.
5. The third party shall, as from the time of service upon him of the third party notice, be a party to the action with the same rights in respect of defence against any claim made against him and otherwise as if he had been duly sued in the ordinary way by the defendant and shall be entitled to be served with all pleadings in the proceedings by the party filing and/or delivering same.
6. The third party notice shall call upon a third party to enter an appearance within a stated time after service (which shall not be less than ten days or other time limited for appearance by agreement of the parties or any order of the Court) to answer the claim of the defendant, and shall warn him of the consequences of failure to do so provided that the expiry of such time shall not entitle the Office to refuse to permit an appearance to be entered.
7. Where a third party enters an appearance, he shall deliver his defence within ten days from the date thereof or within such further period as may be allowed by the Court or consented to by the defendant(s) in the proceedings.
8. After the third party enters an appearance, and before the expiration of the time limited for the delivery of defence, he may, after serving notice of the intended application upon the plaintiff and all defendants, apply to the Court to vary any directions given by the Court under Rule 1 of this Order.
9. The Court may decide all questions of costs as between a third party and the other parties to the action, and may order any one or more to pay the costs of any other or others or give such directions as to costs as the justice of the case may require.