RULE 71. PROCESS IN BEHALF OF AND AGAINST PERSONS NOT PARTIES
Effective Date: 1/1/1990
Obsolete Date: 3/1/2011
If an order is made in favor of a person who is not a party to the action, that person may enforce obedience to the order by the same process as if a party; and, when obedience to an order may be lawfully enforced against a person who is not a party, that person is liable to the same process for enforcing obedience to the order as if a party.
Rule 71 was amended, effective March 1, 1990; March 1, 2011.
Rule 71 derived from Fed.R.Civ.P. 71, and is "* * * intended to assure that process be made available to enforce court orders in favor of and against persons who are properly affected by them, even if they are not parties to the action." Lasky v. Quinlan, 558 F.2d 1133, 1137 (2d Cir. 1977).
As an example, the North Dakota Supreme Court held, in United Accounts, Inc. v. Larson, 121 N.W.2d 628 (N.D. 1963), that a judgment of foreclosure of a lien was enforceable against the original party's assignee who was not made a party to the action. This rule may also be used in conjunction with class actions governed by Rule 23.
Rule 71 was amended, effective March 1, 1990, to follow the 1987 amendment to the federal rule. The amendment is technical in nature and no substantive change is intended.
Rule 71 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of January 28-29, 2010, page 22; April 20, 1989, page 2; December 3, 1987, page 11; January 17-18, 1980, page 8; Fed.R.Civ.P. 71.