An adverse party is an opposing
party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will oft ...
in a
lawsuit
A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today ...
under an
adversary system of
law
Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...
. In general, an adverse party is a party against whom
judgment
Judgement (or judgment) is the evaluation of given circumstances to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions.
In an informal context, a judgement is opinion expressed as fact. In the context of a legal trial ...
is sought or "a party interested in sustaining a judgment or decree." For example, the adverse party for a
defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one juris ...
is the
plaintiff
A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
.
Adverse party's witnesses
A
witness
In law, a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, either oral or written, of what they know or claim to know.
A witness might be compelled to provide testimony in court, before a grand jur ...
called on behalf of an adverse party is usually an
adverse witness. In general, the
examination of an adverse party's witness may include
leading question
A leading question is a question that suggests a particular answer and contains information the examiner is looking to have confirmed. The use of leading questions in court to elicit testimony is restricted in order to reduce the ability of the ex ...
s and follows the rules of
cross examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (known as examination-in-chief in Law of the Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Law of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom, Austra ...
.
[See, e.g., Kenneth E. O'Brien, ]
Cross-Examination of Counsel's Own Witness Initially Examined by Opponent under Adverse Witness Statute
'', 20 109 (1958).
See also
*
Adverse
*
Adverse possession
Adverse possession in common law, and the related civil law (legal system), civil law concept of usucaption (also ''acquisitive prescription'' or ''prescriptive acquisition''), are legal mechanisms under which a person who does not have title (p ...
*
Hostile witness
A hostile witness, also known as an adverse witness or an unfavorable witness, is a witness at trial whose testimony on direct examination is either openly antagonistic or appears to be contrary to the legal position of the party who called th ...
References
Legal terminology
{{Law-term-stub