Personal vs. Real Actions in Jordanian Civil Litigation

Many civil disputes in Jordan begin with a mistake that has nothing to do with the substance of the right in dispute, but with how the lawsuit itself is described. The division of civil lawsuits into personal actions and real actions, a purely civil division unrelated to the distinction between the public right and the private right known in criminal cases, has a direct procedural effect on identifying the correct defendant and the court with territorial jurisdiction, based on the provisions of the Jordanian Civil Code No. 43 of 1976 and its amendments and the jurisdiction rules in the Civil Procedure Law. A lawsuit that is sound in substance may be dismissed simply because it was brought under the wrong description or before a court without jurisdiction, so that its owner loses the costs and time of litigation before the court ever examines the right itself. That is why the characterization of the lawsuit comes before every other step, and it is work that a specialist lawyer settles after studying the facts and the legal basis of the claim.

The Jordanian legislature regulated the procedures for bringing lawsuits and the jurisdiction of the courts to hear them, without setting a comprehensive and exclusive definition of a lawsuit, leaving that to legal scholarship and the courts. The most prominent classification of civil lawsuits is their division into personal actions, real actions and mixed actions.

1. The Personal Action and Its Basis in a Personal Right

A personal action is a lawsuit based on a personal right, whose aim is to compel a particular person to perform an obligation toward the right-holder. A personal right is a legal bond between a creditor and a debtor, under which the creditor may demand a particular performance from the debtor, whether that performance is giving something, doing something, or refraining from doing something.

Examples of personal actions include:

A lawsuit claiming a debt.
A lawsuit claiming rent.
A lawsuit claiming performance of a contract.
A lawsuit compelling the seller to deliver the item sold.
A lawsuit for compensation for damage arising from a wrongful act.

A personal action is distinguished by the fact that the proceedings are directed primarily against the party bound by the personal right, because a personal right can only be asserted against the debtor or the person legally bound to perform it. Hence choosing the defendant in these lawsuits is not a matter of naming, but the result of analyzing the legal bond itself and on whom the burden of performance falls.

Territorial Jurisdiction in a Personal Action

The Jordanian legislature regulated territorial jurisdiction for personal actions in Article 36 of the Civil Procedure Law, which provides that jurisdiction in lawsuits concerning personal rights or movable property lies with the court within whose district the defendant is domiciled, while also regulating the cases in which the defendant has no domicile in Jordan or there are several defendants.

Accordingly, the rule for a personal action is that it is brought before the court of the defendant's domicile, unless a legal provision sets a different jurisdiction. Determining the legally relevant domicile of a defendant who has several addresses or lives outside the Kingdom, and determining the most suitable court when there are several defendants, varies according to the nature of the bond and the facts of each file, which is itself a legal point that merits consultation before the lawsuit is registered.

2. The Real Action and the Right over the Thing Itself

A real action is a lawsuit based on a real right, whose purpose is to protect or establish that right against whoever disputes it or infringes it. A real right is a direct legal power the law grants a person over a particular thing; its most prominent form is the right of ownership and the rights that branch from it, such as usufruct, use, habitation and easement, in addition to accessory real rights such as mortgage and lien, in accordance with the provisions of the law.

The most prominent examples of real actions include:

An action to confirm ownership.
An action to stop interference with ownership.
An action concerning a right of easement.
An action concerning a right of usufruct.
Possessory actions.
Lawsuits concerning real rights over real property.

A real action differs from a personal action in that the right being protected concerns the thing itself, not merely a demand that a particular person perform an obligation. That is why proving a real action is tied to the title to the right over the thing, a matter the lawyer handles by referring to the registration entries and the documents relating to the property, as explained in the article Proving Property Ownership in Jordan.

Real Property Actions

Real actions concerning real property are of particular importance because of their connection to the property in dispute. Article 37(1) of the Civil Procedure Law provides that jurisdiction in a real action concerning real property and in possessory actions lies with the court within whose district the property is located, or one of its parts if the property lies within the districts of more than one court.

This means that jurisdiction here is tied to where the property is located, not to the defendant's domicile as is the rule for personal actions.

3. Table of the Essential Differences between a Personal Action and a Real Action

Point of comparison	Personal action	Real action
Source of the right	A legal bond between a creditor and a debtor arising from a contract, a wrongful act or a provision of law	A direct power the law grants a person over a particular thing
Subject of the lawsuit	A performance the debtor is bound to: giving something, doing something or refraining from doing something	The real right itself, over movable or real property
Against whom it is brought	The debtor or the party bound to perform, and no one else	Whoever disputes or infringes the plaintiff's real right, depending on the nature of the lawsuit
Territorial jurisdiction	The court of the defendant's domicile under Article 36	The court where the property is located, in real property actions and possessory actions, under Article 37(1)
Examples	Claiming a debt, claiming rent, performance of a contract, delivery of the item sold, compensation for a wrongful act	Confirmation of ownership, stopping interference, right of easement, right of usufruct, possessory actions

4. The Personal Action Concerning Real Property: Where Confusion Is Most Subtle

It is important to distinguish between a real action concerning real property and a personal action concerning real property, since the mere fact that a lawsuit relates to real property does not necessarily make it a real property action. A lawsuit may relate to real property while in truth being based on a personal or contractual relationship between two parties, in which case it is a personal action concerning real property. The most prominent examples are lawsuits for the performance of contracts relating to real property, and lawsuits arising from a lease relationship.

The case law of the Jordanian Court of Cassation has settled on this distinction, as in civil judgment No. 4174 of 2020, where the Court held that a lawsuit concerning eviction and the recovery of leased premises, where it is based on ending the contractual relationship between the two parties, is a personal action concerning real property and not a real action concerning real property. On that basis, the Court applied Article 37(3) of the Civil Procedure Law on territorial jurisdiction for personal actions concerning real property, the article under which the legislature allowed such actions to be brought before the court where the property is located or the court of the defendant's domicile.

The effect of this distinction is purely practical: a single dispute over a single apartment may be a real action concerning real property if it rests on a dispute over the ownership itself, and a personal action concerning real property if it rests on ending the lease agreement. This latter situation is set out in detail in the article Recovery of Leased Premises under Jordanian Law.

Practical note: Whether a lawsuit is described as "real" or "personal" is not decided by what the plaintiff calls it in the statement of claim, but by the true legal basis of the claim, a basis that changes from one file to another according to the wording of the contract and the surrounding facts, and that is affected by trends in case law that develop over time. That is why the characterization is built on reading the whole file, or on consulting a specialist lawyer.

5. Mixed Actions

Some lawsuits combine, by their nature, a personal right and a real right, and they are called mixed actions. This form arises when the lawsuit is based on a personal right and a real right that both arise from a single legal act.

Examples include certain lawsuits relating to a contract for the sale of real property, where the personal obligation arising from the contract is combined with the real right resulting from registration, in the circumstances the law specifies. Determining whether a lawsuit is actually mixed, and what follows from that in terms of the choice of claims and the court before which it is brought, is among the matters the lawyer weighs in light of both the terms of the contract and the registration status.

6. Interest as a Condition for Admitting the Lawsuit

It is not enough for a person to claim that a right exists for the lawsuit to be admitted; the conditions for admitting the lawsuit must be met, foremost among them interest. Article 3(1) of the Civil Procedure Law provides: "No request or plea shall be admitted unless its owner has an existing interest in it that the law recognizes".

The same article provides in its second paragraph that a potential interest is sufficient if the purpose of the request is a precaution to avert an imminent harm, or to secure a right whose evidence is feared to be lost by the time of the dispute.

The existence of an interest is one of the basic safeguards that prevent lawsuits from being brought without any real legal benefit. That is why the lawyer begins assessing the file by examining interest and the standing of the parties before moving on to examine the substance of the right, because the absence of interest ends the lawsuit at the threshold, however strong the substantive evidence may be.

7. The Practical Effects of the Distinction

The distinction between a personal action and a real action is not a theoretical scholarly classification; it governs a number of procedural questions:

Determining the court with territorial jurisdiction.
Determining the opponent against whom the lawsuit is directed.
Determining the nature of the right that is the subject of judicial protection.
Determining the legal basis of the lawsuit.
Determining the nature of the claims that may be made before the court.
Avoiding the dismissal or non-admission of the lawsuit because of a mistake in identifying its nature or the competent court.

That is why, in preparing the statement of claim, the description the plaintiff gives to his claim is not enough; the lawyer studies the facts, the claims and their legal basis carefully before drafting the statement of claim, because correcting the description after the lawsuit has been filed is not always possible at the same cost.

8. Common Ideas That Sound Characterization Corrects

"Every lawsuit relating to real property is a real property action." This is the most common mistake, and the case law referred to above has settled it: what counts is the basis of the claim, not its physical subject.

"Territorial jurisdiction is a formal detail the court overlooks." The plea of lack of jurisdiction is one of the pleas raised at the outset of the proceedings, and if it is accepted the lawsuit ends before that court without the right being examined, with the time and costs that follow and a possible effect on the legal time limits.

"The description I put in the statement of claim determines the type of lawsuit." The description the plaintiff gives does not bind the court; the court looks at the true nature of the claim and its basis. That is why the lawyer's attention goes to building the claim on its correct legal basis from the start, not to what it is called.

9. Frequently Asked Questions

What, in short, is the difference between a personal action and a real action?

A personal action protects a personal right against a debtor bound to a performance, while a real action protects a real right over a particular thing directly, against whoever disputes or infringes it.

Is every lawsuit relating to real property a real property action?

No. If the basis of the lawsuit is a personal or contractual relationship between the parties, it is a personal action concerning real property, even if its subject is real property, as the Court of Cassation held in civil judgment No. 4174 of 2020.

Before which court is a personal action brought?

The rule is that it is brought before the court of the defendant's domicile under Article 36 of the Civil Procedure Law, unless a legal provision sets a different jurisdiction.

Which court has jurisdiction over a real property action and possessory actions?

The court within whose district the property, or one of its parts, is located, under Article 37(1) of the Civil Procedure Law.

What is meant by a mixed action?

It is a lawsuit that combines a personal right and a real right arising from a single legal act, including certain lawsuits concerning the sale of real property. Determining its description and the scope of the claims in it is among the matters the lawyer settles after reviewing the contract and the registration status.

Is claiming a right enough for the lawsuit to be admitted?

It is not enough. Article 3(1) of the Civil Procedure Law requires an existing interest that the law recognizes, and a potential interest is sufficient in the two cases of a precaution to avert an imminent harm and securing a right whose evidence is feared to be lost.

What is the effect of a mistake in characterizing the lawsuit or in identifying the court?

It may lead to the lawsuit being dismissed or not admitted before the merits are examined, so the plaintiff loses time and costs without the court deciding on his right. This effect is the main reason for putting the file before a specialist lawyer before the statement of claim is drafted.

Legal Consultation

The characterization of a civil lawsuit is one of the questions whose effect appears early and in a way that is hard to remedy later, whether for the plaintiff, who may lose the lawsuit on form without his right being examined, or for the defendant, who may miss a fundamental plea of lack of jurisdiction if it is not raised in time. Because separating a personal basis from a real basis rests on reading the contract, the facts and the title to the right over the thing together, preparing the statement of claim or the statement of defense without a careful legal assessment exposes the file to a procedural loss unrelated to the strength of the right itself. For specialist legal consultation in civil and commercial cases, or to read related material on civil compensation under Jordanian law, debt collection in Jordan and compensation for material damage in tort liability, you can contact Alabwini Law Firm & Legal Consultancy.

The Difference between Personal and Real Actions under Jordanian Law and Its Effect on Jurisdiction