Application by the Defendants under CPR 81.3(5) for permission to make a contempt application against the Claimant. The allegation is that the Claimant deliberately falsified or caused to be falsified evidence in the form of a document that she then exhibited to her Reply. It is also said that she deliberately made a false statement in her Reply verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief that it was true.
Held: ‘I am not satisfied that this is a case in which the Defendants should be granted the permission that they seek. In reaching that conclusion, I am very conscious that the allegations in respect of which I consider that a strong prima facie case has been established are serious. The evidence points to the fabrication of a document for the purpose of misleading the court. But as has been said on many occasions, the question for the court at this stage is not the merits of the application, but whether it is in the public interest for it to be brought, and in particular whether it is in the public interest for it to be brought at the stage at which the application for permission is made.’
Judges:
Mr Justice Trower
Citations:
[2020] EWHC 3155 (Ch)
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Contempt of Court
Updated: 27 April 2022; Ref: scu.656293