WH Smith Ltd v Colman: CA 20 Mar 2000

The rule against admission in evidence of the content of without prejudice negotiations was not to be set aside because a party making a ‘without prejudice’ communication puts forward an implausible or inconsistent case or faces difficulty continuing. Those are questions for the trial or an application for summary judgment. Either the claimant’s case for summary judgment is strong enough or it is not, and it should not be bolstered up by denying to the defendant the benefit of the doubt in relation to a ‘without prejudice’ communication.

Judges:

Robert Walker LJ

Citations:

(Unreported 20 March 2000)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedBerry Trade Ltd and Another v Moussavi and others CA 22-May-2003
A defendant appealed against an order admitting as evidence, records of ‘without prejudice’ conversations.
Held: Written and oral communications, which are made for the purpose of a genuine attempt to compromise a dispute between the parties, . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Evidence

Updated: 12 May 2022; Ref: scu.182476