Juristic Personality

In legal theory, a person is any being whom the law regards as capable of rights and duties. There two kinds of persons, distinguished as natural and legal. A natural person is a human being while a legal or juristic person is a person in legal contemplation such as a join-stock company or a municipal corporation. The birth and death of legal persons are determined by law. The crime into existence at the will of the law and they end during its good pleasure. They are in their own native capable of indefinite duration, this being indeed are of their chief virtues as compared with humanity. But they are not incapable of destruction. The extinction of a lovely corporate is called dissolution the severing of that legal bond by which its members are knit together.
A juristic person is a body recognized by the law as being entitle-led to rights and duties in the same way as a natural or human person. The legal entity has a distinct existence from its members or shareholders, it possesses properties in its own name, acquires rights, assumes obligation and responsibilities, signs contracts, and can be sued or institute legal proceedings, exactly like a natural person. The company is treated as a separate person from its participants. It is owned by at least one director. The legal personality of a corporation was established to include five legal rights- the right to a common treasury, the right to own property, the right to a corporate seal and the right to sue and sued.
In Mothercat Nig Ltd V. Registered Trustees FGAN (2013) LPELR – 22118 (CA) 23-24 EC PER NWEZE JCA (as he then was). “We take the liberty to state that our law attributes juristic personality that is, the capacity to maintain and defend actions in court to natural persons and artificial persons or institutions. They are therefore known in law as legal persons. In consequence only natural persons or a body of persons whom statutes have either expressly or by implication clothed with the garment of legal personality can prosecute or defend law suits by that name. See Admin. Estate of General Sanni Abacha V. Eke-Spiff and Ors (2009) NWLR (Pt 1139) 92”.
It is indeed trite that only legal persons can sue and be sued. A court cannot entertain a suit or give judgment in favour of non-juristic entity. Once the question of juristic personality of a party arises in a suit, it is only the certificate of incorporation that can settle the issue. See Registered Trustees of Apostolic Church V. Attorney General Mid-Western Nigeria (172) NSCC (Voz.7) 247. Our law attribut4es juristic personality, that is, the capacity to maintain and defend actions in court to natural persons and artificial persons or institutions. See Genera V. Afribank Nig Plc (2013) LPELR-SC 72/2001.

Nkechi Bright-Ewere