# County Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1980, Article 40: Third and subsequent parties


(1) In any action where—
(a) a defendant claims to be entitled to contribution or indemnity from or other relief over against another defendant or any person not a party to the action (in this Article referred to as a “third party”);
(b) a third party makes a like claim against any other person, whether a party to the action or not (in this Article referred to as a “fourth party”),
a county court shall have jurisdiction to grant, subject to county court rules, any such relief as may be granted in the like case by the High Court to a defendant or third party.
(2) Subject to county court rules, the practice and procedure as between a defendant and a third party and as between a third party and a fourth party shall be the same as the practice and procedure as between a plaintiff and defendant.
(3) County court rules shall apply the foregoing provisions of this Article to—
(a) any action wherein a fourth party makes, as such, a claim against another person not a party to the action; and
(b) any action wherein any subsequent like claims are made successively.
(4) A party shall not be prejudiced or unnecessarily delayed in the prosecution of his claim by reason of questions between other parties in which he is not concerned.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1980/397/article/40 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/county-courts-northern-ireland-order-1980/article-40
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.