The court considered the obligation on a judge to put a defendant to his election before hearing a submission on whether there was a case to answer. It was unfortunate that the judge had not followed the practice ‘which ought to be followed in such cases, as has been quite clearly laid down in this court, of refusing to rule on the submission unless counsel for the defendant said he was going to call no evidence. That must be regarded as the proper practice to follow.’
Lord Greene MR
[1942] 1 KB 152
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Neina Graham v Chorley Borough Council CA 21-Feb-2006
The defendant had submitted after the close of the claimant’s case that it had no case to answer. The judge did not put the defendant to its election as to whether to call evidence, but instead decided to accede to the submission. The claimant now . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Litigation Practice
Updated: 22 January 2022; Ref: scu.240055