Definition
Nominal party.
Party joined for procedural reasons.
Etymology & Origin
From 'formal' meaning pertaining to form or procedure rather than substance. Indicates a party added just to complete the procedural requirements of a lawsuit.
Full Legal Analysis
In civil litigation, a Formal Party (often called a pro-forma party or nominal party) is a person who is joined as a defendant in a lawsuit not because the plaintiff seeks any real relief or damages against them, but simply because their presence is technically required by law to ensure the decree is valid and complete.
For instance, if three co-owners of a property need to sue a tenant for eviction, and one co-owner refuses to join as a plaintiff, the other two must make the refusing co-owner a 'pro-forma defendant'. The plaintiffs aren't asking the court to punish the co-owner; they just need all owners on record.
A formal party is generally not expected to file a written statement or contest the suit actively, and courts usually do not award costs against them unless they deliberately obstruct the proceedings.
The Supreme Court has held that the addition of a pro-forma party is a mechanism to bind all interested persons to the court's decree, thereby preventing multiple lawsuits over the same subject matter in the future.
Advocates drafting plaints must be careful to explicitly state in the pleadings that Defendant No. X is impleaded merely as a pro-forma party and no specific relief is claimed against them, protecting them from unnecessary legal costs.
