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The Working Party recommends that some of the basic rules regarding pleadings
should remain unchanged. Thus, it agrees with consultees who were generally of the
view that it is unnecessary to re-state the requirements of pleadings. The annexing of
documents to pleadings and identifying witnesses to be called in the pleadings are
thought to be undesirable (without prejudice to specialist rules in relation, for
example, to the filing of medical reports with pleadings in personal injury cases). The
present rule permitting points of law to be raised in the pleadings and the rules relating
to when pleadings may be amended are recommended to be left unchanged.
Changes which are recommended, in relation both to the original pleadings and
requests for further and better particulars, seek to enhance the proper function of
pleadings; that is, to define each party's case with sufficient precision to facilitate
settlement or otherwise to enable proper preparation for trial, balancing the need for
sufficient detail against the need to avoid prolixity and unnecessary detail.
With these aims in mind, the Working Party recommends first, that there should be a
rule requiring substantive defences, as opposed to bare denials or non-admissions, to
be pleaded; and secondly, that pleadings should be verified by a statement of truth.
Substantive defences are obviously desirable because a bare denial or non-admission
tells you next to nothing about a defendant's case. The rule envisaged requires a
defendant who has a different version of events to state that version or otherwise to
give reasons why he does not accept the version pleaded. At the same time, it is
recommended that the rules should make it clear that it is unnecessary to plead to
every detailed allegation provided that the substance of the defence has been set out.
The requirement that pleadings be verified is taken from the CPR. It is aimed to
discourage pleadings which, whether by design or carelessness, do not accurately
reflect the true case of the party in question. A side-benefit is that a verified pleading
can be treated as evidence in interlocutory proceedings, thereby enabling, in some
cases, the avoidance of duplicated costs.
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