RULE 2. ONE FORM OF ACTION
There is one form of action—the civil action.
Rule 2 was amended, effective March 1, 2011.
This rule is identical to Fed.R.Civ.P. 2 and provides for one form of action to be known as a "civil action." The old forms of action have been abolished, as has the distinction between "law" and "equity" cases.
Even though one form of action has been substituted for actions at law and in equity, a distinction persists so far as the right to a jury trial is concerned. Article I, § 13 of the North Dakota Constitution preserves trial by jury in all cases in which it could have been demanded as a matter of right at common law.
Rule 2 was amended, effective March 1, 2011, in response to the December 1, 2007, revision of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The language and organization of the rule were changed to make the rule more easily understood and to make style and terminology consistent throughout the rules.
SOURCES: Joint Procedure Committee Minutes of January 24, 2008, page 14; November 29-30, 1979, page 2; Fed.R.Civ.P. 2.
CROSS REFERENCE: N.D.R.Civ.P. 8 (General Rules of Pleading).