CIVIL PROCEDURE DEFINITION OF TERMS

REMEDIAL LAW Branch of law which prescribes

the method of enforcing the
rights or obtaining redress
for their invasions
PROCEDURAL LAW Adjective law which prescribes
the rule in order that the
court may be able to
administer justice
FRESH PERIOD Procedural law as it
RULE prescribes a fresh period of
15 days within which an appeal
may be made in the event that
the MR is denied by the lower
court
JUDICIAL POWER 1. duty of the courts of
(Sec 5, Art justice to settle actual
VIII) controversies involving the
rights which are legally
demandable and enforceable
2. Determine whether there
has been a grave abuse of
discretion amounting to lack
or excess of jurisdiction on
the part of any branch or
instrumentality of the
government
CIVIL ACTION A party sues another for the
enforcement or protection of a
right, or the
prevention/redress of wrong;
may be ordinary or special
CRIMINAL ACTION The State prosecutes a person
for an act/omission punishable
by law
SPECIAL Remedy by which a party seeks
PROCEEDING to establish a
status/right/particular fact
SUPPLETORY Provision of the ROC will be
CHARACTER made to apply only where there
is an insufficiency in the
applicable rule
JURISDICTION - Power of the court to
hear & decide cases and to
execute judgment thereon
- Authority to hear &
determine a cause
- Lodged with the Court
GENERAL Power of the court to
JURISDICTION adjudicate all controversies
except those expressly
withheld form the plenary
powers of the court
ORIGINAL Power of the court to take
JURISDICTION judicial cognizance of a case
instituted for judicial action
for the first time under the
conditions provided by law
EXCLUSIVE Power to adjudicate a
JURISDICTION case/proceeding to the
exclusion of all other courts
at that stage
EXCLUSIVE & Power of the court to take
ORIGINAL judicial cognizance of a case
JURISDICTION instituted for judicial action
for the first time under the
conditions provided by law &
to the exclusion of all other
courts
SPECIAL jurisdiction over certain
JURISDICTION types of cases
APPELLATE - Power & authority conferred
JURISDICTION upon a superior court to
rehear and determine causes
which have been tried in lower
courts
- Cognizance which a superior
court takes of a case removed
to it, by appeal or writ of
error, from the decision of a
lower court
- Review by a superior court of
the final judgement/order of
some lower courts
TERRITORIAL Geographical area within which
JURISDICTION its powers can be exercised
CONCURRENT - Confluent or coordinate
JURISDICTION jurisdiction
- Power conferred upon
different courts, whether the
same/different ranks, to take
cognizance the same stage of
the same case in the same or
different judicial
territories
DELEGATED Grant of authority to inferior
JURISDICTION courts to hear & determine
cadastral & land registration
cases under certain conditions
VENUE Place where the case is to be
heard
ACTION Suit filed in court for the
protection and enforcement of
a right and the prevention and
redress
CAUSE OF ACTION Delict or wrongful act or
omission committed by the
defendant in violation of the
primary rights of the
plaintiff
RIGHT OF ACTION Remedial right or right to
relief granted by law to a
party to institute an action
against a person who has
committed a delict or wrong
against him
REAL ACTION - Brought for the protection of
real rights, lands, tenements
or hereditaments or one
founded on privity of estate
only
- Action affecting title to or
possession of real property,
or interest therein
PERSONAL ACTION - Not founded upon the
privity of real
rights/property
MIXED ATION Plaintiff joins two or more
causes of actions based on the
same acts or occurrence, one
of which is a real action
LOCAL ACTION An action which is required by
the rules to be instituted in
a particular place in the
absence of any agreement to
the contrary
TRANSITORY An action the venue of which
ACTION is dependent generally upon
the residence of the parties
regardless of where the cause
of action arose
ACTION IN REM Not directed only against
particular person, but against
the thing itself and the
object of which is to bar
indifferently all who might be
minded to make any objection
against the right sought to
be enforced, hence, the
judgment therein is binding
theoretically upon the whole
world
ACTION IN Directed against particular
PERSONAM persons on the basis of their
personal liability to
establish a claim against them
and the judgment wherein is
binding only upon the parties
impleaded or their successor
in interest
ACTION QUASI IN Directed against particular
REM persons but the purpose of
which is to bar and bind not
only said persons but any
other person who claims any
 interest in the property or
right subject of the suit
KATARUNGANG Establishes a system of
PAMBARANGAY amicably settling the disputes
at the barangay level
ACCION Seeks the recovery of
REIVINDICATORIA ownership; jurisdiction of the
RTC
ACCION Recovery of the right to
PUBLICIANA possess and is a plenary
action in an ordinary civil
proceeding in the RTC
ACCION Seeks the recovery of physical
INTERDICTAL possession only (forcible
entry & unlawful detainer)
filed w/in 1 year with the MTC
or MeTC
JOINDER OF - uniting of two or more
ACTION demands or rights of action
in one action; the statement
of more than one cause of
action in a declaration
- union of two or more civil
causes of action, each of
which could be made the basis
of a separate suit, in the
same complaint, declaration
or petition
REPRESENTATIVES Someone acting in a fiduciary
capacity
REAL PARTY IN party who stands to be
INTEREST benefited/injured by the
judgment in the suit or the
party entitled to the avails
of the suit
INDISPENSABLE one whose interest will be
PARTIES affected by the court’s action
in litigation, and without
whom no final determination of
the case can be had
NECESSARY PARTY One who is not indispensable
but who ought to be joined as
 a party if complete relief is
to be accorded as to those
already parties or for the
determination or settlement of
the claim subject to the
action
CLASS SUIT – controversy is one of common
or general interest to many
persons so numerous that it is
impracticable to join all as
parties, a number of them
which the court finds to be
sufficiently numerous and
representative as to fully
protect the interests of all
concerned may sue or defend
for the benefit of all.
– Any party in interest shall
have the right to intervene to
protect his individual
interest.
DERIVATIVE SUIT a lawsuit brought by a
corporation shareholder
against the directors,
management and/or other
shareholders of the
corporation, for a failure by
management
PLEADING written statements of the
respective claims and defenses
of the parties submitted to
the court for appropriate
judgment
INITIATORY Pleading which commences an
PLEADING action containing the
plaintiff’s COA/s
RESPONSIVE Responds to the adverse
PLEADING party’s pleading
COMPLAINT pleading alleging the
plaintiff's cause or causes of
action. The names and
residences of the plaintiff
 and defendant must be stated
in the complaint
ANSWER pleading in which a defending
party sets forth his defenses
NEGATIVE specific denial of the
DEFENSE material fact or facts alleged
in the pleading of the
claimant essential to his
cause or causes of action
AFFIRMATIVE - allegation of a new matter
DEFENSE which, while hypothetically
admitting the material
allegations in the pleading
of the claimant, would
nevertheless prevent or bar
recovery by him
- other matter by way of
confession and avoidance
COUNTERCLAIM any claim which a defending
party may have against an
opposing party
COMPULSORY - one which, being
COUNTERCLAIM cognizable by the regular
courts of justice, arises out
of or is connected with the
transaction or occurrence
constituting the subject
matter of the opposing
party's claim and does not
require for its adjudication
the presence of third parties
of whom the court cannot
acquire jurisdiction
- must be within the
jurisdiction of the court
both as to the amount and the
nature thereof, except that
in an original action before
the Regional Trial Court, the
counter-claim may be
considered compulsory
regardless of the amount
PERMISSIVE - claim which may be
COUNTERCLAIM cognizable by the court, does
not arise out of or is not
connected with the
transaction or occurrence
constituting the subject
matter of the opposing
party’s claim and require the
adjudication the presence of
third parties of whom the
court can acquire
jurisdiction
CROSS-CLAIM - any claim by one party
against a co-party arising
out of the transaction or
occurrence that is the
subject matter either of the
original action or of a
counterclaim therein
- may include a claim that the
party against whom it is
asserted is or may be liable
to the cross-claimant for all
or part of a claim asserted
in the action against the
cross-claimant
REPLY - pleading, the office or
function of which is to deny,
or allege facts in denial or
avoidance of new matters
alleged by way of defense in
the answer and thereby join
or make issue as to such new
matters
- If a party does not file such
reply, all the new matters
alleged in the answer are
deemed controverted.
- If the plaintiff wishes to
interpose any claims arising
out of the new matters so
alleged, such claims shall be
 set forth in an amended or
supplemental complaint.
THIRD(FOURTH)- claim that a defending party
PARTY COMPLAINT may, with leave of court, file
against a person not a party
to the action, called the
third (fourth, etc.) — party
defendant for contribution,
indemnity, subrogation or any
other relief, in respect of
his opponent's claim
CAPTION sets forth the name of the
court, the title of the
action, and the docket number
if assigned
BODY OF THE sets forth its designation,
PLEADING the allegations of the party's
claims or defenses, the relief
prayed for, and the date of the
pleading
SUMMONS

CONDITION
PRECEDENT

LACHES Failure/neglect for an

unreasonable length of time,
to do which, by exercising due
diligence could or should have
been done earlier

It is negligence/omission to
assert a right within a
reasonable length of time
warranting a presumption that
the party entitled to assert
it either has abandoned it or
declined to assert it
ESPTOPPEL BY
LACHES