State ex rel. Cleveland Municipal Court v. Cleveland City Council

Fundamental to both the complaint and the counterclaim is the nature of the parties thereto. On its face, the complaint is brought by the Cleveland Municipal Court rather than by the individual judges thereof. A court, however, is not sui juris. “ ‘A court is defined to be a place in which justice is judicially administered. It is the exercise of judicial power, by the proper officer or officers, at a time and place appointed by law.’ ” Todd v. United States (1895), 158 U. S. 278, 284. Absent express statutory authority, a court can neither sue nor be sued in its own right.

However,…