Hawick Jersey International Ltd v Caplan: 11 Mar 1998

The Plaintiff (H) claimed repayment of a loan to the defendant (C) of andpound;10,000 made by means of a cheque. C denied it was a loan because he had supplied andpound;10,000 cash. C secretly tape recorded a ‘without prejudice’ meeting at which (a) H did not dispute and indeed accepted C’s repeated assertions that the transaction was not a loan but one involving an exchange for andpound;10,000 in cash and (b) H expressly or impliedly said that the proceedings were brought to persuade C to reach a fairer settlement or to settle other differences.
Held: The without prejudice negotiations were being used as a cloak for unambiguous threats to continue to press a dishonest claim. There was an exception to the without prejudice rule, and the threats were admissible in evidence.

Judges:

Anthony May QC J

Citations:

Times 11-Mar-1998

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, . .
CitedSavings and Investment Bank Ltd (In Liquidation) v Fincken CA 14-Nov-2003
Parties to litigation had made without prejudice disclosures. One party sought to give evidence contradicting the dsclosure, and the other now applied for leave to amend based upon the without prejudice statements to be admitted to demonstrate the . .
CitedBrodie v Ward (T/A First Steps Nursery) EAT 7-Feb-2007
EAT Practice and Procedure – without prejudice letter
The EAT held that the Employment Tribunal was correct in excluding a solicitor’s without prejudice letter in other proceedings which the Appellant . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Evidence

Updated: 19 September 2022; Ref: scu.182475