respondent

The term “respondent” may be used in two different senses in court based business litigation.

Applications

Firstly, a respondent is a party to proceedings against which an applicant seeks relief in an interim application. Interim applications are most often initiated by an application notice, however without notice applications are able to be made to obtain relief.

Accordingly, a claimant or a defendant is able to be a respondent to an application.
Courts are highly unlikely to order any interim relief on a without notice application if there are contentious issues involved, and there is no good reason why the other party should not be given notice of the application.

Appeals

Similarly, when a party to litigation appeals a decision, that party will be the appellant and the other parties will be respondents to the appeal. Possible respondents to an appeal however are not limited to the parties to the proceedings in the lower court. It also includes legal persons which the appeal court permits to be a party to the appeal.