Laws & Jurisprudence
FAILURE TO STATE A CAUSE OF ACTION
6:18 AM
It does not mean that the plaintiff has no cause of action. It only
means that the plaintiff‘s allegations are insufficient for the court to know
that the rights of the plaintiff were violated by the defendant. Thus, even if indeed the plaintiff suffered injury, if the same is not
set forth in the complaint, the pleading will state no cause of action even if
in reality the plaintiff has a cause of action against the defendant.
The mere existence of a cause of action is not sufficient for a
complaint to prosper. Even if in reality the plaintiff has a cause of action
against the defendant, the complaint may be dismissed if the complaint or the
pleading asserting the claim “states no cause of action.” This means that the cause of action must unmistakably be stated or
alleged in the complaint or that all the elements of the cause of action
required by substantive law must clearly appear from the mere reading of the
complaint. To avoid an early dismissal of the complaint, the simple dictum to
be followed is: “If you have a cause of action, then by all means, state it!”
Where there is a defect or an insufficiency in the statement of the
cause of action, a complaint may be dismissed not because of an absence or a
lack of cause of action but because the complaint states no cause of action.
The dismissal will therefore, be anchored on a failure to state a cause of
action.
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