19.03 Pleading reasons for nonjoinder

If someone files a claim in court, and there's another person who should probably be part of the lawsuit but isn't included, the person filing the claim has to explain why. Specifically, they need to name that missing person (if they know who it is) and give the reasons that person was left out of the case.

This rule exists so the court and everyone else involved knows the full picture. Sometimes a case can't be fairly decided without a certain person being part of it, so courts want to know upfront if someone who might need to be included has been left out, and why that happened.

In practical terms, this means you can't just quietly leave someone out of a lawsuit who probably should be there. You have to be upfront about it in your paperwork, so the judge can decide whether that person actually needs to be added to the case before it moves forward.