claimant

In English law, a claimant is the person who commences legal proceedings in litigation. Claimants were formerly called plaintiffs in the United Kingdom, until the implementation of the Civil Procedure Rules in 2000 ("CPR").  The two terms have identical meanings.

Under the CPR, a Part 20 claimant is a claimant who is a defendant to legal proceedings first commenced against them, in which they are a defendant. A Part 20 claimant was formerly referred to as a counterclaim.

 A reference to a Part 20 claimant is simply a reference to a defendant in legal proceedings that a filed and served a independent claim against the claimant.

Usage: The claimant commenced proceedings against the defendant for breach of statutory duty and copyright infringement, with a view to recovering damages for copyright infringement in the litigation.

Related Words: defendant; co-claimant; co-defendant; Part 20 claimant; Part 18 Request; Civil Procedure Rules; overriding objective.