statement of case Flashcards
THE PURPOSE OF STATEMENTS OF CASE
The purpose of a Statement of Case is to provide an outline of a party’s case on liability, causation, and quantum. The
court may strike out an inadequate Statement of Case. To be adequate, the Statement of Case must provide** details of the cause of action, the exact nature of the allegations, and the
fnancial consequences**. In a contractual dispute, it usually
is a good idea to append the contract to the Particulars of
Claim to show the obligations owed.
Claims Arising from Debt
In a debt case, the Particulars of Claim should set out
1. the na-ture of the goods sold and delivered,
2. if appropriate, the date of delivery, and
3. the price.
4. It must specify that the debt has
not been paid and set out the interest accrued pursuant to
the contract.
5. Again, the prayer, statement of truth, date, and author should appear at the foot of the document.
Particulars of Claim in a breach of contract case should in-clude the following information:
1.The parties to and the date of the agreement;
2. The nature and purpose of the contract and the consid- eration;
3. Any express or implied terms that the claimant alleges have been breached by the defendant;
4. The facts concerning each breach alleged;
5. The losses that flow from the alleged breaches;
6. Details of interest claimed;
8/ The prayer, that is, a summary of what is being claimed: damages, interest, and costs;
8.A statement of truth; and
9. The date of the document and the author.
Claims in Tort
a.Road Traffc Accident Claims
- a brief description of the nature of the collision,
- the time, date, and place of the occurrence
- allegations of negligence against the defendant.
- relevant conviction ( if any,the nature of the conviction, where and when the defendant was convicted, and setting out the
issue to which the conviction relates ) - The Particulars should also provide details of any inju-ries sufered, appending a copy of the medical report.
- The Particulars for a trafc accident should also contain
a schedule of past and future loss and expense (or one
should be attached) and plead the claim for interest.
7.details of the date and author, together
with the prayer and the statement of truth.
Claims in Tort
b.Claims Arising from Employers’ Liability
1.*Particulars for a claim arising from employers’ liability
should establish the relationship between the employer
and employee (or the relationship between the parties in
a public liability claim). It should also plead any relevant
statutory provisions.
2. There should be a description of the circumstances
and the nature of the allegations, for example, breach of statutory duty.
3. The document should provide details of the injuries with a medical report and
4. a schedule of loss.
5. It will again conclude with details of interest claimed, the
prayer, statement of truth, date of document, and author.
When the claimant is claiming interest on damages, they
must:
*State the basis for the claim; that is, whether the right to in-
terest is derived from contract, a statute, and so forth; and
*If the claim is for a specifed sum, state the percentage
rate at which interest is claimed, the date from which
interest is claimed, the date the claim for interest ends,
the total amount of interest claimed, and the daily rate at
which interest accrues after that date.
Note: In a breach of contract case, interest will be at either
the statutory rate or the rate stated in the contract, whichever is higher. The statutory rate is not fxed, but in non-commer-
cial cases courts usually use 8%, and in commercial cases
they usually use 1% above the Bank of England base rate.
Common Features
In addition to interest, there are some specifc points that
the claimant must include in the Particulars of Claim if they
propose to rely on them. These include:
Allegations of fraud;
The fact of any illegality;
Details of any misrepresentation;
Details of a breach of trust;
Notices of knowledge of a fact;
Details of unsoundness of mind or undue influence;
Details of wilful default; and
Any facts concerning the defendant’s failure to mitigate loss or damage.
defense
Admissions, Non-Admissions, and Denials
a.Admission
The defendant can admit the paragraph is true. If the defen-
dant admits a paragraph is true, it is no longer in dispute and the claimant will not have to prove it. If the defendant fails to respond to a particular paragraph of the Particulars of Claim,
it is deemed to be admitted.
b.Deny
Alternatively, the defendant may deny the truth of a para-
graph, in which case they must state reasons for doing so
and set out an alternative version of events, which is often re-ferred to as the defendant’s positive case. If a fact is denied,
the claimant must prove it.
c.Non-Admission
Finally, the defendant may state that they neither admit nor
deny a paragraph if the fact(s) alleged in the paragraph are
outside the defendant’s knowledge (for example, the nature and sum of the losses sufered by the claimant). A paragraph which is neither admitted nor denied must be proved by the claimant.
Personal Injury Claims
In a personal injury claim, the defence must state whether
the defendant agrees with the medical report served with the Particulars of Claim. If disputed, they must state the reasons, or they can neither agree nor dispute, stating that they have
no knowledge of the matters contained within the report.
Defence of Set-Off
In situations where the defendant claims that the claimant
owes them money, the defendant may fle a defence seeking to reduce the amount that they have to pay to the claimant
by the amount that the claimant owes them. This is known
as a defence of set-of and most commonly arises in debt
claims.
REPLY
A reply is a Statement of Case that a party may send in
response to a defence. It is optional and usually is prepared
only if something has been raised in the defence that re-
quires a response, so that the issues between the parties are defned.
*A reply may deal with any points raised in the defence
that were not covered by the Particulars of Claim.
*Unlike a defendant’s failure to respond to allegations in a
claim, a court will not imply adverse implications from the
claimant’s failure to reply to a defence.
*A reply may not be used to rectify any mistakes or omis-
sions from the Particulars of Claim; rather, the purpose is
to clarify any points raised in the defence that were not
dealt with in the claim or with which the defendant may
wish to take issue.
THIRD-PARTY (PART 20) CLAIMS
Defendants may bring claims against third parties who might be liable to the claimant or the defendant under the facts re-
lating to the claimant’s claim. The defendant also may make
counterclaims against the claimant. These types of claims are commonly called ‘Part 20 claims’ after the section authorising such claims.
Counterclaim
A defendant may counterclaim against the claimant for losses arising from the same set of circumstances involved in the
claimant’s claim. A counterclaim must be brought within the
same set of proceedings. The key features of a counterclaim are that it:
*Is brought by an existing defendant against the claimant;
*Arises out of the same or substantially the same facts as
the claimant’s claim against the defendant;
*Is a monetary claim in its own right; and
*Is not a defence.
A defendant can make a counterclaim against the claimant without the court’s permission if the defendant fles the
counterclaim with their defence. If the defendant wishes to make a counterclaim at another time, the defendant then must obtain the court’s permission. **
Claim Against AnotherPerson
- the additional claim can be made without permission if issued before, or at the same time as, the defence is fled; thereafter, court permission is required.
- *The new party will be termed a ‘third party’.
- *The application can be made without notice unless the
court directs otherwise. - *Particulars of the additional claim must be contained in or
served with the additional claim. - *If a third party wishes to blame someone else, that party
will be referred to as ‘fourth party’ and so on.
Claim Seeking Contribution or Indemnity
- Under Part 20, a party may serve a notice on another par-ty (usually another defendant) that that party must pay the
serving party some (contribution) or all (indemnity) of any
payment if the serving party is ordered to pay to the claimant. Indemnity or contribution can arise under contract, under
statute, or by virtue of the relationship between the defen-
dant and the additional party.
2.Permission of the court is not required if the claim for
contribution or indemnity is filed and served with the de-
fence. Permission is required at other times. - If the claim for contribution or indemnity is against a party who is not added to the claim until later in the action, no permission is required if the party is served within 28 days of
the third party fling their defence
