Standing

Definition of Standing

Note: See a more comprehensive approach to the Standing legal concept in the American Law Encyclopedia

The requirement that a real dispute exist between the prospective parties to a lawsuit. Standing must be established in order to proceed in either federal or state courts, although the requirements differ somewhat. The concept of standing has several important components. Federal judicial power extends to cases or controversies through Article III of the U.S. Constitution. This has been interpreted to mean that bona fide disputes must exist if judicial resolution is to be sought. The federal courts are thus unable to respond to hypothetical or friendly suits, and they cannot render advisory opinions. This is generally true at the state level as well, but some state courts may issue advisory opinions. Standing means that the plaintiff bringing suit must have suffered direct injury, and the injury must be protected by constitutional or statutory provisions. This means suits cannot be brought by a third party or someone indirectly related to the legal injury. Further, each suit must specify the remedy being sought from the court. The burden rests with the plaintiff to define what relief the court might order. Standing also relates to the timing of a suit. A court must find a suit ripe, which means that all other avenues of possible relief must have been exhausted. Similarly, a case will not be entertained by a court if events have made pursuit of the original remedy inappropriate. A case that is too late is considered moot because there is no longer an adversarial situation. Exceptions will be made when the limited duration of a situation or condition interferes with the litigation of issues. Abortion cases demonstrate the need for such an exception.

See Also

Controversy (Law of the United States) Justiciable Issue (Law of the United States) Mootness (Law of the United States) Ripeness (Law of the United States) Taxpayer Suit (Law of the United States).

Resources

Standing Related Resources

• Standing in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
• Civil Judicial Process Keywords in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
• Civil Process Keywords in the International Legal Dictionary

Notes

• “Standing”, The American Law Dictionary, 1991, California

Standing (Civil Judicial Process)