When an order is made in favor of a person who is not a party to the action, he may enforce obedience to the order by the same process as if he were a party; and, when obedience to an order may be lawfully enforced against a person who is not a party, he is liable to the same process for enforcing obedience to the order as if he were a party.
Rule 71.Process in Behalf of and Against Persons Not Parties
Current through June 1, 2026 · Last verified July 10, 2026
In one sentenceRule 71 lets someone who benefits from a court order enforce it even though they were never a party to the case, and lets an order be enforced against someone outside the case when the law already allows that person to be bound.
Full Text of Rule 71
Amendment History
The source reproduced here (current through June 1, 2026) records no amendment to this rule since its original adoption — no Credits line appears for it in the compiled rules. For the underlying adopting order and any later amendments, see the Colorado General Assembly.
Plain-English Summary
Most enforcement tools in these rules are built around parties: the plaintiffs and defendants named in a case. Rule 71 reaches beyond that. If a court order favors someone who was never a party, that person can use the same enforcement process a party would use to make sure the order is obeyed.
The rule works the other way too. If the law already allows an order to be enforced against someone who is not a party, that person can be reached with the same process used against a party. Rule 71 does not create new grounds for binding an outsider to a case; it only supplies the mechanism once some other rule or legal principle already permits enforcement against or in favor of that person.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone who was never a party to a lawsuit enforce a court order in their favor?
Yes. Rule 71 lets a person who benefits from an order, even without being a party to the action, enforce obedience to it using the same process a party would use.
Does Rule 71 let a court bind anyone it wants to an order?
No. Rule 71 only supplies the enforcement process. The person must already be someone against whom the order may lawfully be enforced under some other rule or legal principle; Rule 71 does not expand who can be bound.
When would Rule 71 come into play in practice?
It applies when an order affects someone outside the named parties, such as a person with an interest in property at stake in the case, or someone bound by an injunction because they acted in concert with a party and had actual notice of it.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure (Colo. R. Civ. P. 71). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Colorado (C.R.S. § 13-2-108; Colo. Const. art. VI). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 10, 2026. ·
Official source
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