Unit 8.8: Statement of Case Flashcards
What are the consequences for a claimant of causing a statement of truth to be made without an honest belief?
Potential imprisonment
Contempt of court
All statements of case ie. particulars of claim must be verified by
Statement of truth signed by the claimant
A claim for interest should be
pleaded
Where interest is not claimed under specific terms of a contract or, say, under the Late
Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, it can be claimed under:
35A of the Senior Courts Act 1981
Defence is served to a
Particulars of claim
Why is it important to serve a defence to every allegation in a particulars of claim?
Unanswered allegations will be deemed accepted
Is a reply by the claimant to a defence mandatory? Remember that it goes claimant: claim form, particulars of claim and defendant: defence.
No. A reply to a defence is not mandatory. The Claimant can leave the defence unanswered
Part 20 Claim form
a) a counterclaim by a defendant against the claimant and another person
b) an additional claim be a defendant against any person for a contribution or indemnity (bringing another party in as a defendant)
Part 20 claims must be
Related
If not related to the claim must issue a new claim and separate proceedings
Statements of case are?
Commonly referred to as pleadings, they are the documents which parties set out their legal and factual case
What do statements of case include?
- claim form
- particulars of claim
- defence
- reply
- counterclaim
- CPR Pt 20 (Part 20 claim) claim form, particulars of additional claim and defence and reply
regarding the same, and - responses to requests for further information: CPR Pt 18.
Requests for further information are contained in >
CPR Pt 18
What is a request for further information?
If a document is referred to in a statement of case, the opposing party can require inspection of that document
Failure to verify a statement of case with a statement of truth will mean
The document in question cannot be relied upon as evidence and may result in the statement of case being struck
out or in adverse cost consequences: CPR r 22.2.
Where the claimant is a company or similar, the statement of truth must be signed by
a senior position and must state the office or position they hold: CPR Practice
Direction 22, para 3.
There is no limit to
The number of parties to a claim
In a particulars of claim for breach of contract, they should be structured as follows:
- establish all the elements of the contract
- define the terms
- explain the alleged breaches of the terms
- damages claimed
- claim interest pursuant to contract or statute
A breach of contract claim is different to
Misrepresentation
In a particulars of claim for tort claims, they should be structured as follows:
- establish the duty of care
- nature of the duty
- alleged breach
- causation of loss
- damages claimed
- interest pursuant to relevant statues
The defence needs to
respond to every allegation made in the particulars of claim: CPR r 16.5.
If a defendant raises a counterclaim with their defence, the claimant is required to:
file and serve a defence to a counterclaim
RFI is a
Request for information
Interest for damages can be claimed under
the specific terms of a contract or under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998
The approach to amendments of statement of case depends on
Whether the relevant limitation period has expired
RFI must be
concise and strictly confined to matters which are reasonably necessary
and proportionate to enable the requesting party to prepare their own case or to
understand the case they have to meet.
RFI can be used to
Request for information
Used to seek clarification of any matter which is in dispute in the
proceedings or seek additional information in relation to any such matter.
If an amendment to a statement of case is sought after service and the other parties do not consent, what is required?
The permission of the court
If there is no limitation issue and they seek the statement of case to amended, the court will consider
The overriding objective and all the
merits of the case
Where the limitation period has expired and a party seeks to amend statement of case, the court will
have a much narrower scope to permit amendments
A party can only use a RFI with a document when
It has been referred to in the statements of case
