The defendant sought to be allowed to amend its pleadings to add justification. They now appealed against refusal.
Held: The amendment was allowed. However, in general, in a libel action, if the defendant seeks at a late stage to amend his defence by adding a plea of justification, his application will be closely inquired into and it will be allowed where he has shown due diligence in making his inquiries and investigations, but it may well be refused if he has been guilty of delay or has not made proper inquiries earlier.
Lord Denning MR said: ‘Like a charge of fraud, [counsel] must not put a plea of justification on the record unless he has clear and sufficient evidence to support it.’
Judges:
Lord Denning MR
Citations:
[1970] 2 QB 450, [1970] 2 All ER 754
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Atkinson v Fitzwalter CA 25-Mar-1987
A court should not grant leave to amend a pleading into a form which is liable to be struck out. The more serious the allegation that is made, the more clearly satisfied must the Court be that no prejudice will be caused that cannot be compensated . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Defamation, Litigation Practice
Updated: 07 October 2022; Ref: scu.465098