§ 426.40.Inapplicability of Article

Section 426.40 adds three more situations in which the compulsory cross-complaint article — most importantly § 426.30's use-it-or-lose-it rule — does not apply at all, on top of the two exceptions § 426.30(b) already states.

The first, subdivision (a), covers a related cause of action that cannot be adjudicated without additional parties the court cannot bring within its jurisdiction. The second, subdivision (b), covers a cause of action that both the current court and any court to which the action could be transferred under § 396 are barred from hearing by the federal or state constitution or by statute. The third, subdivision (c), covers a cause of action that, at the time the current action was commenced, was already the subject of another pending action — the law does not force a party to abandon an existing lawsuit and refile as a cross-complaint just because a second, related action came along later.

All three exceptions share a practical logic: the compulsory cross-complaint rule is meant to consolidate related claims where consolidation is possible and where a party is not already pursuing the claim elsewhere. Where jurisdiction, constitutional or statutory limits, or a prior pending action stand in the way, forcing consolidation would not serve that purpose.