09:55 Oct 23, 2012
Common law
In many common law jurisdictions, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, the term "without prejudice" is also used in the course of negotiations**** to indicate that a particular conversation or letter cannot be tendered as evidence in court;****** it can be considered a form of privilege.[2] This usage flows from the primary meaning: concessions and representations made for purpose of settlement are simply being mooted for that purpose, and are not meant to actually concede those points in litigation.
Such correspondences must both be made in the course of negotiations and a genuine attempt to settle a dispute between the parties. A prohibition exists on documents marked "without prejudice" being used as a façade to conceal facts or evidence from the court. As a result, documents marked "without prejudice" that do not actually contain any offer of settlement may be used as evidence, should the matter proceed to court. Courts may also decide to exclude from evidence communications not marked "without prejudice" that do contain offers of settlement.[3][4] Wikipaedia |