股东直接诉讼（Direct shareholder litigation或direct shareholder suit 或direct suit），是指股东为了自己的利益而基于股份所有人地位向其他侵犯自己利益的人提起的诉讼。此处侵犯自己利益的人包括股东所在的公司及董事或其他股东。直接诉讼与派生诉讼（间接诉讼）的本质区别不在于起诉的主体，而在于诉因和目的。

股东直接诉讼具有以下特点：（1）起诉主体，股东直接诉讼权提起的根据是股东作为股份所有人即出资人的地位。它不同于投资者证券民事赔偿诉讼，例如证券市场特有的因虚假陈述而引发的民事索赔诉讼，其起诉主体可能是该做假公司的股东，也可能曾经是股东但起诉时并不具有股东身份。（2）诉讼目的，股东直接诉讼权行使的目的是为了维护股东自身的利益，以个人名义向法院提起诉讼。（3）诉讼结果，股东直接诉讼权行使的结果归属于原告股东。（4）诉讼被告，股东直接诉讼的被告是公司或者是公司的大股东、董事、监事及高级管理人员。

为了更好的理解该词，以下是其英文释义：A direct suit is when a shareholder brings forth a claim based the shareholder’s ownership of shares. Some examples of direct suits involve contract rights related to shares, rights related to the recovery of dividends, and rights to review the records of the corporation.

双语例句：

（1）A direct claim is often used by shareholders in small corporations, particularly with minority shareholders who are alleging unfair treatment at the hands of the majority shareholders. Here, the individual shareholder is seeking redress of wrongs committed by the corporation’s board or other shareholders that directly affect the individual shareholder. Other causes of action that can be brought through direct action are fraud, conspiracy, and breach of statutory duties.

小公司的股东经常提起股东直接诉讼，特别是那些声称在大股东处受到不公平待遇的小股东。在这种情况下，个人股东会对其造成影响的公司董事会或其他股东寻求损失赔偿。其它可能引起股东直接诉讼的原因有欺诈，串谋和违反法定职责。

（2）股东提起直接诉讼的原因一般在于公司侵犯了股东法定的或约定的权利（如违反公司章程）或者与股东股份相关的权利。因而实际上直接诉讼主要涉及股东与公司之间的合同关系。

The reason for shareholders to file a direct litigation is generally that the company has violated the shareholders’ statutory or agreed rights (such as violation of the company’s articles of association) or the rights related to the shareholder’ shares. Therefore, in fact, shareholders direct litigation mainly involves the contractual relationship between shareholders and the company.

（3）在股东直接诉讼中原告必须提出他受到的伤害不同于其他股东受到的伤害。直接诉讼是为个别利益受到公司侵犯的股东而设立的保障体制，目的在于保护股东合法权益。

In a direct shareholder suit, the plaintiff must claim that his injury is different from the injury suffered by other shareholders. Direct litigation is a safeguard system established for individual shareholders whose interests are infringed by the company, with the purpose of protecting the legitimate rights and interests of shareholders.