What is meant by a “joined claim” and a “counterclaim”? To which court are they submitted, and when?

Joined Claim A joined claim is a claim initiated by the plaintiff during the proceedings of the original lawsuit. It is called a “joined claim” because it is attached to the original case. Article (66) of the Civil Procedure Code allows for a new claim to be raised during the hearing: if submitted by the plaintiff, it is considered a joined claim; if submitted by the defendant, it is considered a counterclaim.

Article (67) of the same law considers as “incidental claims” those filed by the plaintiff as a supplement to the original claim, or claims arising from or closely connected to it in a manner that does not allow separation, such that the judgment on one would necessarily affect the judgment on the other.

Examples of joined claims include:

Requesting the court to award legal interest in addition to the debt claimed, when the plaintiff did not originally demand such interest from the date of judicial proceedings until actual payment.

Requesting rent (usufruct compensation) for property for the period elapsed after filing the lawsuit.

Requesting the awarded sum to be subject to expedited enforcement under Article (165) of the Civil Procedure Code.

Requesting provisional attachment (seizure) of the defendant’s property under Article (231) of the same law.

Conditions of a joined claim (Article 67):

1. The joined claim must be related to the original claim in such a way that the judgment in one would affect the judgment in the other.

2. The joined claim must fall under the jurisdiction of the same court—functionally, by subject matter, and by value as the court hearing the original claim.

The court may issue a judgment in both the original and joined claims together. If it is not possible to rule on both simultaneously, the court may decide the original claim, while the plaintiff retains the right to file the joined claim separately.

Counterclaim :
A counterclaim is the claim filed by the defendant, aimed at dismissing the original claim in whole or in part. Article (68) of the Civil Procedure Code states: “The defendant may submit counterclaims that include set-off (compensation) or any other request directly connected to the original claim in an inseparable manner.”

Example:
If a plaintiff sues another party demanding repayment of a specific debt, and the defendant responds that the plaintiff himself owes him a certain amount, requesting that his debt be deducted from the claimed sum, this is considered set-off. Article (408) of the Civil Code defines set-off as: “The extinguishment of a debt owed to a person by his creditor, in return for a debt owed by that person to his debtor.”

Conditions of a counterclaim:
They are the same as those of a joined claim, namely:

There must be a necessary connection between the original and counterclaim.

The counterclaim must be within the functional, subject-matter, and value jurisdiction of the same court.