What is the legal effect of failure to implead an indispensable party?
Answer:
Under Section 7, Rule 3 of the Rules of Court, “parties in interest without whom no final determination can be had of an action shall be joined as plaintiffs or defendants.” If there is a failure to implead an indispensable party, any judgment rendered would have no effectiveness. It is “precisely ‘when an indispensable party is not before the court (that) an action should be dismissed.’ The absence of an indispensable party renders all subsequent actions of the court null and void for want of authority to act, not only as to the absent parties but even to those present.” The purpose of the rules on joinder of indispensable parties is a complete determination of all issues not only between the parties themselves, but also as regards other persons who may be affected by the judgment. A decision valid on its face cannot attain real finality where there is want of indispensable parties.
Source:
NAGKAKAISANG LAKAS NG MANGGAGAWA SA KEIHIN (NLMK-OLALIA-KMU)
and HELEN VALENZUELA vs. KEIHIN PHILIPPINES CORPORATION,
G.R. No. 171115, August 9, 2010
It is clear that petitioners failed to include the name of the dismissed employee Helen Valenzuela in the caption of their petition for certiorari filed with the CA as well as in the body of the said petition. Instead, they only indicated the name of the labor union Nagkakaisang Lakas ng Manggagawa sa Keihin (NLMK-OLALIA) as the party acting on behalf of Helen. As a result, the CA rightly dismissed the petition based on a formal defect.
Under Section 7, Rule 3 of the Rules of Court, “parties in interest without whom no final determination can be had of an action shall be joined as plaintiffs or defendants.” If there is a failure to implead an indispensable party, any judgment rendered would have no effectiveness. It is “precisely ‘when an indispensable party is not before the court (that) an action should be dismissed.’ The absence of an indispensable party renders all subsequent actions of the court null and void for want of authority to act, not only as to the absent parties but even to those present.” The purpose of the rules on joinder of indispensable parties is a complete determination of all issues not only between the parties themselves, but also as regards other persons who may be affected by the judgment. A decision valid on its face cannot attain real finality where there is want of indispensable parties.
At any rate, we are aware that it is the policy of courts to encourage full adjudication of the merits of an appeal. Dismissal of appeals purely on technical grounds, especially an appeal by a worker who was terminated and whose livelihood depends on the speedy disposition of her case, is frowned upon. Thus, while we affirm the CA’s dismissal of the petition for certiorari, we shall still discuss the substantive aspect of the case and go into the merits.
