JOINT AND SEVERAL, a legal phrase in England and Ireland, meaning that a con tract or obligation is made by, or in favor of, each of several parties, independently as well as jointly with the others. The general rule of law is, that a contrsct of several persons is joint, and not several—that is to say, if it is sought to be enforced against them, they "oust all be sued together, and an action cannot be brought against one. Thus, for example, if A, B, and C jointly accept a bill, or make a promissory-note, without say ing, " we jointly and severally promise, etc.," the whole of them must be sued on such bill. If, however, any one pay the whole debt, he can sue his co-contractors for their re spective contribution or proportion—namely, one-third from each. If, on the other hand, the parties had, by express words, jointly and severally made the promissory-note, or bound themselves, then the credito>i could sne any one of them he pleases, without taking any notice of the rest. Whichever of them, however, first paid the debt, would be equally entitled to sue his co-debtors to contribute their fair proportions. So, if a contract is made in favor of two or more persons, the general rule is, that all of them must join in any action brought to enforce the contract. But iu some cases, when a
contract is capable of being separated into distinct interests, it is not necessary that all of the creditors should sue. Much depends on the nature of the contract, the situation and relations of the parties, and who paid the price or consideration. In Scotland the phrase conjunctly and severally is more frequently used than jointly and severally, though the meaning is the same. There are, however, some differences between the laws of England and Scotland on the subject. In Scotland the general rule is the of what it is in England. When a contract is joint, each is concerned and liable only for his share; but when it is expressly stated to be a conjunct contract, each is liable for the whole. Moreover, where one of several debtors is discharged without an express reservation of the remedy against the rest, this operates in England as a dis charge to the whole; whereas in Scotland it operates only as a discharge of that one.