next friend
Meaning. The adult who files and conducts a suit on behalf of a minor or a person of unsound mind.
Every suit by a minor must be instituted in his name by a person called his next friend. The next friend must be of sound mind, have attained majority, and have no interest adverse to the minor. He is responsible for costs and cannot compromise the suit without leave of the court.
When the minor is the defendant, the court appoints a guardian for the suit (guardian ad litem) instead. The same rules apply to persons of unsound mind. A decree obtained against a minor not properly represented is not binding on him. A plaint filed by a minor without a next friend may be taken off the file.
Example
The suit for partition was filed by the minor through his mother as next friend.
In Indian law
- Order XXXII, Rules 1, 3, 4 and 7, Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
See also
minor · guardianship · legal representative
Read more in the study notes
- Plaint: its parts, return and rejection (Order VII) (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
- Suits by or against firms, minors and persons of unsound mind, indigent persons, and interpleader suits (Civil Procedure Code and Limitation Act)
- Minor's agreements (Contract I)
- Dissolution and registration of firms (Contract II)
- Partition and reunion (Family Law I - Hindu Law)
- Hindu religious and charitable endowments (Family Law I - Hindu Law)