Locus Standi—Agency—Legal title—Prescription—Legally ascertained date—Partition. A plea in objection to the locus standi of the plaintiff may be raised at any stage of the proceedings, even on appeal. The maxim "Nul ne plaide par procureur, hors le roi" is not a principle based on natural reason and of general and necessary application. It is a maxim of French law, of which no trace is found in the Egyptian Codes. Neither Art. 33 of the C. C. C. Pr., nor any other article of the Codes, requires a plaintiff to institute his suit in his own name. Not only the general principles of law, but also Arts. 516 and 523 of the C. C., and Art. 81 of the Com. C., establish the validity of every lawful contract of agency, and empower the agent to act either in his own name or in that of his principal. This is equally the case when the object of the agency is the institution of a suit. Registration by transcription is not necessary to enable a deed to be used as a legal title for the acquisitive prescription of 5 years, dealt with in Art. 76 of the C. C.: but the deed cannot affect the rights of third parties unless its date is legally ascertained. A change in the title of a person claiming by prescription cannot be relied on, unless his intention to change his title has been manifested by overt acts of a nature to bring such change of intention to the notice of interested parties. Partition is, according to the Egyptian Civil Code (Art. 457), declaratory of proprietary rights. When, therefore, a particular portion of an immovable held in co-ownership has before partition been sold by one co-owner, the validity of such sale depends on the result of the partition. The Tribunals should therefore suspend their decision as to the validity of the sale until the partition has been effected.