Standing is the ability of a party to bring a lawsuit in court based
upon their stake in the outcome. A party seeking to demonstrate standing
must be able to show the court sufficient connection to and harm from the
law or action challenged. Otherwise, the court will rule that you "lack
standing" to bring the suit and dismiss your case.
There are three constitutional requirements to prove standing:
- Injury: The plaintiff must have suffered or imminently
will suffer injury. The injury must not be abstract and must be within
the zone of interests meant to be regulated or protected under the statutory
or constitutional guarantee in question.
- Causation: The injury must be reasonably connected
to the defendant’s conduct.
- Redressability: A favorable court decision must be
likely to redress the injury.
There are other requirements imposed by judge made law:
- A party may only assert his or her own rights and cannot
raise the claims of a third party who is not before the court.
- A plaintiff cannot sue as a taxpayer who shares a grievance
in common with all other taxpayers.
Related Terms
Terms with 'Standing'
