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Rule 9 – Pleading Special Matters

May 14, 2021 | Civil Procedure, North Dakota

(a) Capacity or Authority to Sue; Legal Existence.

(1) In General. A pleading need not allege:

(A) a party’s capacity to sue or be sued;
(B) a party’s authority to sue or be sued in a representative capacity; or
(C) the legal existence of an organized association of persons that is made a party.
(2) Raising Those Issues. To raise any of those issues, a party must do so by a specific denial, which must state any supporting facts that are peculiarly within the party’s knowledge.
(b) Fraud or Mistake; Conditions of Mind. In alleging fraud or mistake, a party must state with particularity the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake. Malice, intent, knowledge, and other conditions of a person’s mind may be alleged generally.
(c) Conditions Precedent. In pleading conditions precedent, it suffices to allege generally that all conditions have occurred or been performed. But when denying that a condition precedent has occurred or been performed, a party must do so with particularity.
(d) Official Document or Act. In pleading an official document or official act, it suffices to allege that the document was legally issued or the legally act done. In pleading an ordinance or regulation of a county, city, village, or other political subdivision, or a special, local or private statute, the laws of another jurisdiction, it suffices to refer to the ordinance, regulation, statute, or law by its title and date of its approval or in some other manner with convenient certainty.
(e) Judgment. In pleading a judgment or decision of a domestic or foreign court, judicial or quasi-judicial tribunal, or a board or officer, it suffices to plead the judgment or decision without showing jurisdiction to render it.
(f) Time and Place. An allegation of time or place is material when testing the sufficiency of a pleading.
(g) Special Damage. If an item of special damages is claimed, it must be specifically stated.
(h) Name of Party. If a party is ignorant of the name of another party, the unknown party may be designated in a pleading by any name and when the true name is discovered, the pleading may be amended.

N.d. R. Civ. P. 9

Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of April 20, 1989, page 2; December 3, 1987, page 11; September 20 21, 1979, page 7; Rule 9, FRCivP.

EXPLANATORY NOTE Rule 9 was amended, effective March 1, 1990;March 1, 2011. Rule 9 is adapted from Fed.R.Civ.P. 9. Rule 9 was amended, effectiveMarch 1, 2011, in response to theDecember 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules. Subdivision (a) was amended, effective March 1, 1990. The amendments are technical in nature and no substantive change is intended. STATUTES AFFECTED: SUPERSEDED: Sections 10-1401, 28-0723, 28-0776, 28-0728, 28-0730, NDRC 1943.

Rules 8 (General Rules of Pleading), 10 (Form of Pleadings), 12 (Defenses and Objections-When and How Presented-By Pleading or Motion-Motion for Judgment on Pleadings), and 15 (Amended and Supplemental Pleadings), N.D.R.Civ.P.