Can an objection be an answer to interrogatory?

Answer 1

In some limited situations, yes, an objection may be made to an individual interrogatory question. This depends on the rules of the court in which the case is filed. If the person answering makes an objection, the person who asked the question has the right to immediately make a motion for an order overruling the objection and directing the other person to answer it anyway. Interrogatories are part of what is called "discovery" in a lawsuit. This phase of every lawsuit is designed to let each side find out exactly what the other side intends to prove at trial. Generally, an interrogatory has to be answered even if the question would be improper during the trial. Discovery is designed to let litigants learn as much as they can about the other's case. Litigants are allowed to ask question to determine evidence pertinent to the trial or which might reasonably lead to such evidence. In New Jersey at least, the only allowable objections are that the interrogatory seeks information that is privileged Sometimes objections are made if a question is overly broad or unintelligible but those objections are quickly cleared away by redoing the question.