NEW RULES AS TO ADMISSIONS: READ THEM HERE: IN FORCE 1st OCTOBER 2023
The Civil Procedure (Amendment No.3) Rules 2023 introduce a “new” Part 14 on admissions. The is not to make any substantial changes but are part of a process of simplifying the rules. So, for instance, the criteria for seeking to…
DEFENDANT REFUSED PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW FROM ADMISSIONS: PRE-INQUEST ADMISSIONS FATAL TO DEFENDANT’S CASE
I am grateful to barrister Jo Moore for drawing my attention to the judgment of Master Sullivan in Somoye v North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust [2023] EWHC 191 (KB). This is a case where the Master refused the defendant’s…
VERY LATE APPLICATIONS FOR PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW ADMISSIONS REFUSED: ADMISSIONS MADE IN REPLY REMAINED BINDING
I am grateful to John De Waal QC for pointing out the procedural aspects of the judgment of Mr Justice Edwin Johnson in Valley View Health Centre (a firm) & Ors v NHS Property Services Ltd [2022] EWHC 1393 (Ch)….
CIVIL PROCEDURE BACK TO BASICS 92: RESILING FROM ADMISSIONS – A SUMMARY OF THE LAW
The judgment of Master Stevens in Shah v London Borough of Barnet [2021] EWHC 2631 (QB) provides an essential summary of the rules and case law in relation to resiling from admissions. The decision itself was looked at in an…
DEFENDANT REFUSED PERMISSION TO RESILE FROM ADMISSION: GRANTING THE APPLICATION WOULD “REFLECT BADLY ON THE JUSTICE SYSTEM”
In Shah v London Borough of Barnet [2021] EWHC 2631 (QB) Master Stevens refused the defendant’s application for permission to resile from a pre-action admission. “On the particular facts of this case, I believe it would reflect poorly on the…
DEFENDANT REFUSED PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW FROM AN ADMISSION: COURT OF APPEAL UPHOLDS DECISION OF HIGH COURT JUDGE
In J v A South Wales Local Authority [2021] EWCA Civ 1102 the Court of Appeal upheld an earlier decision refusing a defendant permission to resile from an admission. “There is no doubt that the checklist at paragraph 7.2 is…
DEFENDANTS’ APPLICATION TO RESILE FROM ADMISSIONS REFUSED: NO EVIDENCE THAT DEFENCE WAS NOT CAREFULLY CONSIDERED BY THE LEGAL ADVISERS WITH THE DEFENDANTS
The judgment of Chief Master Marsh in Financial Conduct Authority v Skinner & Ors [2019] EWHC 392 has only recently arrived on BAILLI. It is an example of the court refusing to allow a party to withdraw from admissions. The…
GENERAL RESPONSE IN A REPLY DOES NOT AMOUNT TO AN ADMISSION: HIGH COURT DECISION
In Berkeley Square Holdings Ltd & Ors v Lancer Property Assets Management Ltd & Ors (Claimant amendment application) (Rev 1) [2021] EWHC 750 (Ch) Mr Robin Vos (sitting as a judge of the Chancery Division) rejected an argument that a…
COURT REFUSES CLAIMANT PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW FROM ADMISSIONS: “THE WHOLE POINT OF THINGS BEING ADMITTED IS THAT PARTIES CAN MOVE ON AND NOT BE BOTHERED WITH INVESTIGATING SUCH MATTERS”
In Advinia Care Homes Ltd v (1) BUPA Care Homes Investments (Holdings) Ltd & Ors [2020] EWHC 1563 (Ch) Mr Michael Green QC (sitting as a High Court judge) refused a claimant’s application to withdraw from an admission. “The whole…
CIVIL PROCEDURE BACK TO BASICS 86: PRE-ACTION ADMISSIONS: THE DANGERS OF NOT MAKING THEM AND THE CONSEQUENCES IF YOU DO
The judgment in Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service v Veevers [2020] EWHC 2550 (Comm) HHJ Pearce emphasises the point that a party can make a formal pre-action admission. A party who tries an alternative “non-formal” admission may well not get…
JUDGE SHOULD NOT HAVE GRANTED DEFENDANT PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW FROM ADMISSIONS: CHANGE OF LAW DID NOT JUSTIFY CHANGE OF STANCE
In the judgment today in J v A South Wales Local Authority [2020] EWHC 2362 (Admin) Mr Justice Marcus Smith overturned a decision granting a defendant permission to withdraw admissions. “ changes in the law are to be anticipated, particularly…
2019 AND CIVIL PROCEDURE, THE YEAR IN REVIEW (7): WITHDRAWING FROM ADMISSIONS (AND ANOTHER CHANCE TO PAY HOMAGE TO GUIDE DOG RALPH)
There have been relatively few cases about applications to withdraw from admissions this year. Interestingly most of them have been refusing applications to withdraw. However the main point of this post is to pay homage to Guide Dog Ralph, who…
“PLEADINGS ARE NOT A GAME OF LUDO”: TESCO REFUSED PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW ADMISSION
In SL Claimants v Tesco Plc [2019] EWHC 3312 (Ch) Mr Justice Hildyard refused an application by Tesco PLC to withdraw an admission. There is a detailed consideration of the factors to be considered when a party seeks permission to…
RESILING FROM ADMISSIONS – ISN’T THAT EASY : WITH A HOMAGE TO THE WIT AND WISDOM OF RALPH GUIDE DOG (RETIRED)
I got nudged into writing this post on withdrawing from admissions by Ralph Guide Dog, (Retired). So, especially for Ralph – who has always taken a keen interest in all things legal, the latest High Court decision on resiling from…
LATE APPLICATION TO AMEND DEFENCE AND WITHDRAW ADMISSION REFUSED: EVE OF TRIAL APPLICATIONS USUALLY CAUSE PROBLEMS
There is a second reason to look at the judgment today by Mr Justice Arnold in Freshasia Foods Ltd v Lu [2019] EWHC 638 (Ch). There was a decision in the judgment on a late application to amend and withdraw from an admission. …
CIVIL PROCEDURE BACK TO BASICS 12: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A NON-ADMISSION AND A DENIAL
Some defences adopt a scattergun approach of “denying” everything. Some are more selective – they “put the Claimant to strict proof”. Many defences ignore the important distinction between a non-admission and a denial. THE DIFFERENCE IN A NUTSHELL If you…
DEFENDANT GIVEN PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW ADMISSION: CHANGE IN VALUE OF THE CLAIM IS A RELEVANT CRITERIA
An earlier post looked at the decision in Wood -v- Days Health UK Ltd & Others [2016] WHC 1079 (QB) where a defendant was refused permission to withdraw from an admission. That decision was overturned by the Court of Appeal in Wood…
DEFENDANT’S ADMISSION IS BINDING: BUT PERMISSION TO WITHDRAW ADMISSION GRANTED: HIGH COURT DECISION
In Blake -v- Croasdale [2017] EWHC 1336 (QB) His Honour Judge Purle QC (sitting as a Judge of the High Court) decided that an admission made by insurers was a binding admission. However he granted permission to resile from that…
A “DEFENCE STRAIGHT OUT OF THE 1970S”: DEFENDANT’S PLEADINGS 40 YEARS OUT OF DATE
Some defences are inadequate. Some are (rightly) struck out. Some do not recognise the essential difference between a non-admission and a denial. A series of denials is, the case law makes clear, an inappropriate and archaic way of proceeding. “Churchill’s…
APPLICATION TO WITHDRAW ADMISSION REFUSED: SUMMARY JUDGMENT GRANTED
NB – THE JUDGE’S DECISION NOT TO ALLOW THE FIRST DEFENDANT TO WITHDRAW FROM THE ADMISSION WAS SUBSEQUENTLY OVERTURNED ON APPEAL. See the post here. The judgment yesterday in Wood -v- Days Health UK Ltd & Others [2016] WHC 1079…