Let`s exercise on the previous class

1. Define suit.
2.Classify civil court of system in
Bangladesh mentioning relevant law.
3. Write down the pecuniary jurisdiction
of civil courts.
4. Define adjective law.
5. Write down at least three features of
CPC.
Definition Clause of CPC

S-2
 Decree
• (2) "decree" means the formal expression of an
adjudication which, so far as regards the Court
expressing it, conclusively determines the rights of the
parties with regard to all or any of the matters in
controversy in the suit and may be either preliminary
or final. It shall be deemed to include the rejection of a
plaint and the determination of any question
within section 144, but shall not include-
• (a) any adjudication from which an appeal lies as an
appeal from an order, or
• (b) any order of dismissal for default.
• A decree is preliminary when further
proceedings have to be taken before the suit
can be completely disposed of. It is final when
such adjudication completely disposes of the
suit. It may be partly preliminary and partly
final:
• (3) "decree-holder" means any person in
whose favour a decree has been passed or an
order capable of execution has been made:
• (5) "foreign Court" means a Court situate
beyond the limits of Bangladesh which has no
authority in Bangladesh and is not established
or continued by the Government:
• (7) "Government Pleader" includes any officer
appointed by the Government to perform all
or any of the functions expressly imposed by
this Code on the Government Pleader and also
any pleader acting under the directions of the
Government Pleader:
• (9) "Judgment" means the statement given by
the Judge of the grounds of a decree or order:
• (10) "Judgment-debtor" means any person
against whom a decree has been passed or an
order capable of execution has been made:
• (11) "legal representative" means a person who
in law represents the estate of a deceased
person, and includes any person who
intermeddles with the estate of the deceased and
where a party sues or is sued in a representative
character the person on whom the estate
devolves on the death of the party so suing or
sued:
• (12) "mesne profits" of property means those
profits which the person in wrongful
possession of such property actually received
or might with ordinary diligence have received
therefrom, together with interest on such
profits but shall not include profits due to
improvements made by the person in
wrongful possession:
• (14) "order" means the formal expression of
any decision of a Civil Court which is not a
decree:
• (15) "pleader" means any person entitled to
appear and plead for another in Court
• (17) "public officer" means a person falling under any of the following descriptions, namely:-
•
• (a) every Judge;
•
• (b) every member of the Civil Service of 3[The Republic];
•
• (c) every commissioned or gazetted officer in the military, naval or air forces of Bangladesh while in the service of the 4[Republic];
•
• (d) every officer of a Court of Justice whose duty it is, as such officer, to investigate or report on any matter of law or fact, or to make, authenticate or
keep any document, or to take charge or dispose of any property, or to execute any judicial process, or to administer any oat h, or to interpret, or to
preserve order, in the Court, and every person especially authorised by a Court of Justice to perform any of such duties;
•
• (e) every person who holds any office by virtue of which he is empowered to place or keep any person in confinement;
•
• (f) every officer of the Government whose duty it is, as such officer, to prevent offences, to give information of offences, to bring offenders to justice,
or to protect the public health, safety or convenience;
•
• (g) every officer whose duty it is, as such officer, to take, receive, keep or expend any property on behalf of the Governmen t, or to make any survey,
assessment or contract on behalf of the Government, or to execute any revenue -process, or to investigate, or to report on, any matter affecting the
pecuniary interest of the Government, or to make, authenticate or keep any document relating to the pecuniary interests of th e Government, or to
prevent the infraction of any law for the protection of the pecuniary interests of the Government; and
•
• (h) every officer in the service or pay of the 5[Republic], or remunerated by fees or commission for the performance of any public duty:
 Decree
• (a)Meaning
• The adjudications of a court of law may divided into two classes: (i)
decrees, and (ii) orders
• b) Essential Elements
• In order that a decision of a court may be a decree, the following
elements must be present.
• i) There must be an adjudication;
• ii) Such adjudication must have been done in a suit;
• iii) It must have determined the rights of the parties with regards to
all or any of the matters in controversy in the suit;
• iv) Such determination must be of a conclusive nature
• v) There must be a formal expression of such adjudication.
 i) an adjudication
• Judicial determination of the matter in dispute
• A decision on a matter of an administrative
nature, or an order dismissing a suit for default of
appearance of parties or dismissing an appeal for
want of prosecution cannot be termed as a
decree inasmuch as it does not judicially deal
with the matter in dispute.
• Such judicial determination must be by a court.
Thus, an order passed by an officer who is not a
court is not a decree.
 ii) Suit
• Hansraj Gupta v. Official Liquidators of The Dehra Dun-Mussorie
Electric Tramway Co. Ltd., Their Lordships of the Privy Council have
defined the term
• A civil proceeding instituted by the presentation of a plaint.
• There is no civil suit, there is no decree
• Rejection of an application for leave to sue in forma pauperis is not
a decree, as there is no plaint till the application is granted.
• Certain enactments specific provisions have been made to treat
applications as suit, e. g. proceedings under the Indian Succession
Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, the Land Acquisition Act, the
Arbitration Act, etc. They are statutory suits and the decisions given
thereunder are, therefore, decrees.
 iii) Rights of parties in controversy
• The adjudication must have determined the rights of
the parties with regard to all or any of the matters in
controversy in the suit.
• The word rights means substantive rights and not
merely procedural rights.
• The rights in matters of procedure are not included in
it. Thus, an order for dismissal of a suit for default of
appearance, or an order dismissing an application for
execution for non-prosecution, or an order refusing
leave to sue in forma pauperis, or a mere right to sue,
are not decrees as they do not determine the rights of
the parties.
• The term “parties” means parties to the suit, i.
e. the plaintiff and the defendant. Thus, an
order on an application by a third party, who
is a stranger to the suit, is not a decree. In
interpleader suits, the contesting defendants
will be deemed to be parties to the suits.
• The expression “matter in controversy” refers to the
subject-matter of the suit with reference to which some
relief is sought. At the same time, however, it should not be
understood as relating solely to the merits of the case. It
would cover any question relating to the character and
status of a party suing, to the jurisdiction of the court, to
the maintainability of a suit and to other preliminary
matters which necessitate an adjudication before a suit is
enquired into. Interlocutory orders on matter of procedure
which do not decide the substantive rights of the parties
are not decrees. Similarly, the proceedings preliminary to
the institution of a suit also will not be included in the
definition.
 iv) Conclusive determination
• The determination must be final and conclusive as regards the court
which passes it. Thus, an interlocutory order, which does not decide
the rights of the parties finally is not a decree, e. g. an order
refusing an adjournment
• An order may determine conclusively the rights of parties although
it may not dispose of the suit. Thus, an order dismissing an appeal
summarily under Order 41 of the Code or holding it to be not
maintainable or a decision dismissing a suit for want of evidence or
proof are decrees inasmuch as they decide conclusively the rights
of the parties to the suit.
• The crucial point which requires to be decided in such a case is
whether the decision is final and conclusive in essence and
substance. If it is, it is decree, if not, it is not a decree.
 v) Formal Expression:
• There must be a formal expression of such
adjudication. All the requirements of form must
be complied with. The formal expression must be
deliberate and given in the manner provided by
law. The decree follows the judgement and must
be drawn up separately. Thus if a decree is not
formally drawn up in terms of the judgement, no
appeal lies from that judgement. But, the decree
need not be in a particular form. Thus, a
misdescription of a decision as an order which
amounts to a decree does not make it less than a
decree.
 (d) Decisions which are decrees:
The following decisions are held to be decrees:
• i) Order of abatement of suit;
• ii) Dismissal of appeal as time barred;
• iii) Dismissal of suit or appeal for want of evidence or proof;
• iv) Rejection of plaint for non-payment of court fees;
• v) Granting or refusing to grant costs or instalment;
• vi) Modification of scheme under Section 92 of the Code;
• vii) Order holding appeal not maintainable
• viii) Order holding that the right to sue does not survive;
• ix) Order holding that there is no cause of action;
• x) Order refusing one of several reliefs.
 (e) Decisions which are not decrees:
• The following decisions, on the other hand, are held not to
be decrees:
• i) Dismissal of appeal for default
• ii) Appointment of commissioner to take accounts;
• iii) Order of remand;
• iv) Order granting or refusing interim relief;
• v) Return of plaint for presentation to proper court;
• vi) Dismissal of suit under Order 23 Rule 1;
• vii) Rejection of application for condonation of delay;
• viii) Order holding an application to be maintainable;
• ix) Order refusing to set aside sale;
• x) Order directing assessment of mense profits;
 (f) Classes of decrees
• The Code recognizes the following classes of
decrees:
• i) Preliminary decree
• ii) Final decree
• iii) Partly preliminary and partly final decree
• Iv) Deemed decree
 i) Preliminary decree
• A preliminary decree is one which declares the rights and liabilities
of the parties leaving the actual to be worked out in further
proceedings. Where an adjudication decides the rights of the
parties with regard to all or any of the matters in controversy in the
suit, but does not completely disposes of the suit, it is preliminary
decree. A preliminary decree is passed in those cases in which the
court first to adjudicate upon the rights of the parties and has then
to stay its hands for the time being, until it is in a position to pass a
final decree in the suit.
• The code provides for passing of preliminary decrees in the
following suits:
• 1. Suit for possession and mesne profit............ O 20 R 12
• 2. Administrative suits .......................................O 20 R 13
• 3. Suits for partition and separate possession O 20 R 18
 ii) Final Decree
• ii) Final Decree- A decree may be said to final in
two ways:
• i) when within the prescribed period no appeal is
filed against the decree or the matter has been
decided by the decree of the highest court; and
• ii) when the decree, so far as regards the court
passing it, completely disposes of the suit.
• It is in the latter sense that the words ‘final
decree’ are used here.
• A final decree is one which completely disposes of a
suit and finally settles all questions in controversy
between parties and nothing further remains to be
decided thereafter.
• Thus, in a suit for recovery of money, if the amount
found due to the decree holder is declared and the
manner in which the amount is to be paid has also
been laid down, the decree is a final decree. Similarly, a
decree passed for a sum representing past mesne
profits and future mesne profits at a particular rate,
without directing any further enquiry, is a final decree.
 iii) Partly preliminary and partly final
decree
• A decree may be partly preliminary and partly
final, e g in a suit for possession of immovable
property with mesne profit, where the court:
• a) decrees possession of the property; and
• b) decrees an enquiry into the mesne profits
• The former part of the decree is final, while the
latter is only preliminary because the final decree
for mesne profits can be drawn only after
enquiry, and the amount due is ascertained.
 d) Deemed decree
• The term deemed is generally used to create a
statutory fiction for the purpose of extending the
meaning which it does not expressly cover.
• An adjudication not fulfilling the requisites of
section 2(2) of the code cannot be said to be a
decree. By legal fiction, certain orders and
determinations are deemed to be decree under
the code
• The rejection of plaint and the determination of
questions under section 144 are deemed decree.