An adverse party is an opposing
party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a 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 often feature ...
in a
lawsuit
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
under an
adversary system of
law. In general, an adverse party is a party against whom
judgment
Judgement (or US spelling judgment) is also known as '' adjudication'', which means the evaluation of evidence to make a decision. Judgement is also the ability to make considered decisions. The term has at least five distinct uses. Aristotle s ...
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 has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
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
In common law systems that rely on testimony by witnesses, 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 test ...
s and follows the rules of
cross examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan known as examination-in-chief) an ...
.
[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, sometimes colloquially described as "squatter's rights", is a legal principle in the Anglo-American common law under which a person who does not have legal title to a piece of property—usually land (real property)—may a ...
*
Hostile witness
References
Legal terminology
{{Law-term-stub