Overview
Statements of Case, are what each side use to set out their case. The technical word of the items within a Statement of Case are “pleadings”, for example Particulars of Claim are how a Claimant “pleads” their case.
The key thing about Pleadings within a Statement of Case is that they are the ‘limits’ of each party’s case. For example, a Claimant can’t plead allegations A to B, but then throw in X to Y at a Trial…. They have to stick with their case.
Technically, there are 4 ‘types’ of Statement of Case, which are dealt with in the following order;
- Particulars of Claim
- Defence
- Reply
- Further Information
Statements of Case, are covered under Part 16 of the Civil Procedure Rules, with Further Information being covered under Part 18 of the Civil Procedure Rules.
Particulars of Claim
Particulars of Claim is the Statement of Case where a Claimant(s) sets out their case.
The Particulars of Claim are important to be pleaded correctly, as if Particulars of Claim disclose no basis for a claim, indicate vexatious litigation, have no cause of action, and/or no legal basis – an early application to Strike Out a claim for any of these reasons can dispose early of ‘dodgy claim’.
Particulars of Claim must be signed with an affidavit (a Statement of Truth), if it can be proven the person who signed the Particulars of Claim did so without a belief in the truth (ie they lied) – Contempt Proceedings can occur, and it becomes a serious matter!
Defence
The Defence is the Statement of Case where a Defendant(s) responds to the Particulars of Claim and set out why they are defending the Claim, and what parts (if any) of the Particulars of Claim are admitted.
Usually the responses are “Admitted”, “Denied” and “Not Admitted”.
In the case of Admitted and Denied, these are what is known as a ‘positive case’. The same applies with any points in the Defence, these are ‘positive cases’. The meaning of a ‘positive case’ is that there is interaction with the point in dispute one way or the other, and it will expected that the relevant party will prove those points.
“Not Admitted” is often a case where a Claimant has advanced a point outside of the Defendant’s knowledge – and therefore it is not possible to respond either way.
A Defence, like the Particulars of Claim, should be pleaded carefully as a Claimant can attempt to Strike Out the Defence in part or whole if it is not pleaded correctly. A Defence must also contain a Statement of Truth.
Reply
A Reply is Statement of Case served by the Claimant in response to the Defence. Usually this picks up any new points advanced by a Defendant. Replies also tend to be dealt with with responses of “Admitted”, “Denied” and “Not Admitted”.
There is not a ‘reply to a Reply’, so in theory it ‘closes the pleadings’.
The Reply also must contain a Statement of Truth.
Further Information
Further Information (also known as a Part 18 Request) is intended to understand each party’s case better. It is open to both a Claimant and Defendant to use.
For example you may say in the form of a Request for Further Information “Request 1: Asto Paragraph 54 of the Particulars of Claim, please explain who did X, Y and Z as alleged?” A Claimant would then respond along the lines of “Response to Request 1: It is the Claimant’s case that John Smith and Jack Doe did X and Y, and that Peter John did Y.”
The trouble with Further Information is aggressive parties can ‘play dumb’ and no matter how much further information they are given, still say it’s not enough….. The result of this ultimately can be for said party to issue an Application seeking that the other side respond to their Further Information request, and of course they’re seek inflated costs, etc, etc….. This is a classic litigation tactic.
Responses to Further Information are required to contain a Statement of Truth, and again, parties who respond dishonestly can find themselves (rightly) in hot water.