LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE – Parties – Master and Servant as Joint Tortfeasors – Liability for Tort Committed in Course of Employment
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
Where several persons are jointly liable, the plaintiff is at liberty to select and sue anyone or any number of them and he can recover his claim in full from those he sued; the issue of contribution among such persons to meet the claim is their internal affair. It therefore seems to me a correct proposition of law that ordinarily non-joinder of a party, in the present case the driver of respondent's vehicle, cannot by itself defeat the action, having regard to the provisions of the said Order 7 Rule 10(1) aforementioned unless, of course, a statutory enactment makes provision to the contrary.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Iguh, JSC, in Ifeanyi Chukwu (Osondu) Ltd. v. Soleh Boneh Ltd. (2000) NLC-741994(SC) at pp. 32–33; Paras D–A.
"Where several persons are jointly liable, the plaintiff is at liberty to select and sue anyone or any number of them and he can recover his claim in full from those he sued; the issue of contribution among such persons to meet the claim is their internal affair. It therefore seems to me a correct proposition of law that ordinarily non-joinder of a party, in the present case the driver of respondent's vehicle, cannot by itself defeat the action, having regard to the provisions of the said Order 7 Rule 10(1) aforementioned unless, of course, a statutory enactment makes provision to the contrary."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Where joint tortfeasors are jointly liable, the plaintiff may sue any or all of them and recover full damages from those sued. Contribution among liable parties is their internal concern, not the plaintiff’s. Non-joinder of a joint tortfeasor does not defeat the action absent a contrary statutory provision. This rule prevents plaintiffs from being forced to join parties whose identity may be unknown or who may be immune. The plaintiff’s right to choose defendants ensures efficient recovery while leaving co-tortfeasors to sort out contribution among themselves.