D & J Nicol v Dundee Harbour Trustees, 1915 SC (HL) 7
Citation:D & J Nicol v Dundee Harbour Trustees, 1915 SC (HL) 7
Rule of thumb:Can you sue a person who you know has broken the law but you have no connection to? In order for someone to have title to sue then they have to be able to show some sort of legal relation to the person that they are suing.
Background facts:
The basic facts of this case were that it was decided less ferry services would be offered, and this damaged D & J Nicol’s business.
Judgment:
The Court affirmed that although D & J Nicol had interest in this case, showing that this meant they would lose business, they did not have the title to challenge this decision.
Ratio-decidendi:
‘By the law of Scotland a litigant, and in particular a pursuer, must always qualify title and interest. Though the phrase “title to sue” has been a heading under which cases have been collected from at least the time of Morison’s Dictionary and Brown’s Synopsis , I am not aware that any one of authority has risked a definition of what constitutes title to sue. I am not disposed to do so, but I think it may fairly be said that for a person to have such title he must be a party (using the word in its widest sense) to some legal relation which gives him some right which the person against whom he raises the action either infringes or denies’. In this case, it was held that there was no title as such as there was no legal relationship between the 2 parties’, Lord Dunedin
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.