Civil Parties and Class Actions

[Courts of Azalea Isles]

Parties and Class Actions in Civil Lawsuits​

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Parties​

In every court case, there are parties - the individuals or entities directly involved in the dispute. At the most basic level, this means:

• Plaintiff(s): The person or group bringing the lawsuit, claiming they were harmed.
• Defendant(s): The person, company, or government agency being accused of causing the harm.

In some cases, there may be multiple plaintiffs or multiple defendants. For example, several people might sue the same company for the same issue, or a plaintiff might sue more than one company if both were involved.

Normally, lawsuits are individual claims: a single plaintiff against one or more defendants. But when many people have suffered the same type of harm from the same defendant, the law allows for a special procedure called a class action.

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Class Actions​

A class action is a lawsuit where one or a few individuals represent a much larger group of people with similar claims. Instead of hundreds or thousands of people filing separate cases, the court allows them to be treated as one collective party, also known as the "class." This can also be utilized in the reverse, where a Plaintiff(s) sues multiple Defendants at the same time.

Class actions are currently governed under the Civil Suit Reform Act, which applies to civil litigation. Class actions are typically not permitted under criminal cases.

In order for a class action case to proceed, the Court must first certify the class. The certification process is:

For Multiple Plaintiffs
1. If the Plaintiff is suing as a class, they must provide a justification for such in their initial court filing.
2. If the Plaintiffs do not provide clarity or explanation in the initial court filing, the Judge may ask their lawyer to clarify.
3. The Defendant will be offered the opportunity to challenge the certification of the class, offering a rebuttal.
4. Once all above steps have been completed, the Judge will rule on whether or not the case may proceed with the case. If not, the recourse of the Judge will be to either ask the lawyer to amend the initial complaint, or to dismiss the case without prejudice so that it may be re-filed without the class.

For Multiple Defendants
1. If the Plaintiff is suing a Defendant class (multiple Defendants), they must provide a justification for such in their initial court filing.
2. If the Plaintiff does not provide clarity or explanation in the initial court filing, the Judge may ask their lawyer to clarify.
3. The Defendants will be offered the opportunity to challenge the certification of the class, offering a rebuttal.
4. Once all above steps have been completed, the Judge will rule on whether or not the case may proceed with the case. If not, the recourse of the Judge will be to either ask the lawyer to amend the initial complaint, or to dismiss the case without prejudice so that it may be re-filed without the class.

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Requirements for Class Actions​

For a class action to be valid under the law, there must be certain factors met. This includes:

Similarity of Claims
To levy a case as a class of plaintiffs, they must prove there is a common characteristic among all members of the class. If the Defendant committed the same injury to every member of the class, and to the same degree, then it has met this factor.

Similarity of Contribution
To levy a case against a class of defendants, the Plaintiff must prove that each individual mentioned as part of the class contributed to the specific loss or injury. If each Defendant has had similar contributions to the same injury, then it has met this factor.

Representation
The class representatives and their lawyers must fairly and adequately protect the interests of all class members. If a Defendant class consists of multiple entities that each contributed to the injury in uniquely different ways, members with different forms of contribution are each entitled to their own representation. As long as the lawyer(s) are representing the class effectively and consensually, then it has met this factor.

References: https://www.cityrp.org/threads/civil-suit-reform-act.2382/

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Examples of Class Actions​

Here are some examples of valid and invalid class actions:

Valid Class Actions - Typically accepted in Court

• Group of tenants sue a landlord for blocking off all entrances to the apartment building while they are actively renting there - this would be valid, as tenants they all have the same injury occurred from the single act of the landlord.
• Group of protesters sue the government for shutting down a protest over alleged violation of peaceful assembly - this would be valid, as the protestors experienced the same injury to civil rights as a result of a single act of the government.

Invalid Class Actions - Typically dismissed in Court

• Group of former employees sue a company for refusing to pay them for work completed on the same project, but one of the former employees listed as part of the class did not consent to being part of it - this would be invalid, since not all class members consented to being class members in such case.
• Property owner and added property members sue the Ministry of Urban Development over an eviction and fines incurred through property reports - this would be invalid, since the property owner has a different level of injury compared to those who are simply added to the property (the property owner was subject the eviction-related fines, the added members were not)
• A Plaintiff sues a class of Defendants who scammed them in different ways over the past few days - this would be invalid, as the Defendants did not collectively try to scam or work together to scam the Plaintiff.

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Examples of Class Actions​

This is not an exhaustive list and not regularly updated, however includes some examples of certified or rejected class actions.

i020 v. Ministry of Urban Development - Dismissed
Result: Mere association with the property does not confer the same right to compensatory relief as ownership does.

Case: Dismissed - Members of i020 v. Ministry of Urban Development (2025) CV 10

Members of i020, Plaintiff v. Ministry of Urban Development, Defendant Civil Complaint: On August 17th, 2025, the constitutional rights of the Plaintiffs (consisting of AdmiralKenko, BlogWorldExpo, and kli_20) were violated in multiple ways when Minister of Urban Development, Death...

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