LEGAL PRINCIPLE: CIVIL PROCEDURE — Counter-Claim — Joinder — When Counter-Claim and Original Suit May Be Tried Together
PRINCIPLE STATEMENT
If the original suit and the counter-claim arose out of the same set of facts or transactions, it is desirable to hear them together. If the issues are not the same and the parties are not the same, the suits cannot be conveniently tried together.
RATIO DECIDENDI (SOURCE)
Per Katsina-Alu, JSC, in Gowon v. Ike-Okongwu & Ors (2003) NLC-6497(SC) at pp. 6–7; Paras D–A.
"If the original suit and the counter-claim arose out of the same set of facts or transactions, it would be desirable and indeed convenient to hear them together… From the foregoing it will be seen clearly that the issues for resolution in the two actions are not the same; they are not inter-related. In the second place the parties are not the same. In the circumstances, I hold that the suits cannot be conveniently tried together."
EXPLANATION / SCOPE
Separate claims may be tried together only if they arise from the same facts and share parties. The principle applies to civil procedure. The court has discretion to order separate trials. The rule promotes efficient case management. The court will not force unrelated claims together. The principle is well-established.