Procedural Position of Consortium Members

Abstract

The procedural position of the consortium members is a complex issue that must be considered separately from the capacity to be sued and the right to sue. In the first case, the liability of the consortium members as debtors in any situation gives rise to their ordinary substantive joint participation in civil proceedings. In the second case, their situation depends on the nature of the consortium agreement and whether the agreement concluded with the investor contains provisions concerning his liability towards the consortium members. If the consortium is a civil partnership, all members of the consortium have a joint right to sue in order to enforce a claim included in the joint property of the partnership, and from the moment of the dissolution of the partnership, each member of the consortium has the right to sue in respect of its fractional share (Article 875 § 1 of the Civil Code). If the consortium doesn't constitute a civil law partnership, the procedural situation of the consortium members depends on whether the service provided by the client (investor) is of a divisible or indivisible nature by its nature or by the will of the parties, or whether the parties include a provision on the solidarity (joint and several obligations) of the creditors in the public contract.