When an order is made in favor of a person who is not a party to the action, that person may enforce compliance with the order by the same process as if a party; and, when compliance with an order may be lawfully enforced against a person who is not a party, that person is liable to the same process for enforcing compliance with the order as if a party.
Rule 71.Process in Behalf of and Against Persons Not Parties
Last amended May 1, 2000 · Last verified July 8, 2026
In one sentenceRule 71 lets someone who benefits from a court order, but isn't a party to the case, enforce that order the same way a party could, and lets an order be enforced against a non-party the same way it could be enforced against a party.
Full Text of Rule 71
Advisory Committee’s Notes & Reporter’s Notes
Advisory Committee’s Notes — May 1, 2000
The rule is amended to substitute “compliance with” for “obedience to.”
Reporter's Notes — December 1, 1959
This rule is the same as Federal Rule 71. The situations where it will be invoked are unlikely to arise often.
RULES 72 THROUGH 76B & 76I
Rules 72, 73, 74, 74A, 74B, 74C, 75, 75A, 75B, 75C, 75D, 76, 76A, 76B and 76I of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure have been abrogated. Appeals to the Law Court are now governed by the Maine Rules of Appellate Procedure, effective January 1, 2001. [See those Rules and the Comments thereto for the history and Committee Notes.]
TO THE SUPERIOR COURT OR THE LAW COURT
Plain-English Summary
A court order sometimes reaches beyond the people named in the lawsuit — it might direct a party to do something for a third person's benefit, or it might bind someone who was never a defendant at all. Rule 71 makes both directions work the same way an ordinary judgment would: a person who isn't a party but stands to benefit from an order can enforce compliance with it using the same process a party would use, and a person who isn't a party but is bound by an order can be made to comply through the same enforcement tools that would apply to a party.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone who isn't a party to a lawsuit enforce a court order made in their favor?
Yes, Rule 71 lets that person enforce compliance with the order through the same process as if they were a party.
Can a court order be enforced against someone who was never named as a defendant?
Yes, if the order can lawfully be enforced against a non-party, that person is subject to the same enforcement process as a party would be.
Does Rule 71 create new grounds for binding a non-party to an order?
No, it only supplies the enforcement mechanism; whether an order can lawfully bind or benefit a particular non-party in the first place depends on the substantive law governing that order.
Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Committee’s Notes / Reporter’s
Notes are reproduced verbatim from the official Maine Rules of Civil Procedure (Me. R. Civ. P. 71), prescribed by the
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine (4 M.R.S. § 8, the Rules Enabling Act). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: enforcing an order against a non-party Mainethird-party enforcement of court order