The Necessity of the Subsidiary Claims' Dependency on the Principal Claim

Abstract

Subsidiary claims stand in contrast to the principal claim, the latter referring to a claim that is brought forth as the main legal action. Subsidiary claims are secondary to the principal claim and are brought alongside and in connection with it. Although, in certain cases, they may be filed independently, it is natural for these subsidiary claims to follow the principal claim in specific aspects such as the court’s jurisdiction, the possibility of appealing court rulings, and the withdrawal of the claim. Notable examples of subsidiary claims include litigation costs, attorney’s fees, delay damages, expert fees, witness certification expenses, and enforcement costs, all of which become apparent following the issuance of a final judgment. Undoubtedly, these are among the consequences of filing a lawsuit. In fact, they emerge with the initiation of the lawsuit and become evident after the final ruling, making it impossible to overlook them. These costs are often deemed insignificant, to the extent that they are sometimes unjustly paid at the beginning of the enforcement stage by the judgment creditor for the enforcement of the judgment, despite the explicit provision of Article 158 of the Civil Judgments Enforcement Act. For this reason, this article first explores the concept of claims and subsidiary claims, and subsequently, it thoroughly examines the scope of dependency of subsidiary claims on the principal claim.