PARTIES TO ACTIONS

Those persons who institute actions for the recovery of their rights, and those persons against whom they are instituted, are the parties to the actions; the former are called plaintiffs, and the latter, defendants. The term parties is understood to include all persons who are directly interested in the subject-matter in issue, who have right to make defence, control the proceeding, or appeal from the judgment. Persons not having these rights are regarded as strangers to the cause. 20 How. St. Tr. 538, n.; Greenl. Ev. Section 523 2. It is of the utmost importance in bringing actions to have proper parties, for however just and meritorious the claim may be, if a mistake has been made in making wrong persons, either plaintiffs or defendants, or including too many or too few persons as parties, the plaintiff may in general be defeated. 3. Actions are naturally divided into those which arise upon contracts, and those which do not, but accrue to the plaintiff in consequence of some wrong or injury committed by the defendant. This article will therefore be divided into two parts, under which will be briefly considered, first, the parties to actions arising upon contracts; and, secondly, the parties to actions arising upon injuries or wrongs, unconnected with contracts, committed b the defendant. 4. Part I. Of parties to actions arising on contracts. These are the plaintiffs and the defendants.