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18 May 2020
Disputes Quick Read – 74 of 99 Insights
Disputes quick read: Mandatory changes to Statements of Truth
- QUICK READ
Parties to litigation are required to verify key documents such as statements of case and witness statements by a statement of truth. A person signing confirms that they believe the facts stated in the document are true. This was one of the significant innovations in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998. The purpose was to put an end to parties pursuing a case that they knew to be untrue or unsupported by evidence, or pleading aspirationally, hoping something might turn up in the course of the proceedings.
There was a sense among the judiciary that the real importance of statements of truth had been lost over time and so the Civil Procedure Rule Committee have made amendments. As of 6 April 2020, the statement of truth now expressly includes a reference to the maker of the statement understanding that "proceedings for contempt of court may be brought against anyone who makes, or causes to be made, a false statement in a document verified by a statement of truth without an honest belief in its truth".
Now that the severe consequences of making a false statement are expressly spelt out (contempt of court is punishable by two years in prison), the court will have very little sympathy for a party, faced with an allegation of having made a false statement, claiming not to have understood the significance of the statement of truth and the need for an honest belief in the truth of the contents of the document being signed.
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Disputes Quick Read: What are the litigation trends for 2023?
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Disputes Quick Read: further guidance on witness statement preparation rules
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Disputes Quick Read: A cautionary tale – settlement agreement (un)wittingly releases all claims for fraud
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Disputes Quick Read: Why the UK should join the Hague Judgments Convention 2019
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Disputes Quick Read: A new approach to giving evidence? WhatsApp with that?
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Disputes Quick Read: Ethereum Merge - what legal issues arise?
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Disputes Quick Read: what claims exist when a smart contract is breached?
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Disputes Quick Read: New gateway for serving Norwich Pharmacal Orders and Bankers Trust orders out of the jurisdiction
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Disputes Quick Read: Defining the duty - the limits of the responsibility assumed by professionals
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Disputes Quick Read: Climate change litigation – successful challenge to government's Net Zero Strategy
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Disputes Quick Read: Judicial Review and Courts Act 2022 – now in force
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Disputes Quick Read: The new witness statement preparation rules – a year on
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Disputes Quick Read: ClientEarth v Shell – climate change litigation shifts focus to UK companies
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Disputes Quick Read: Key changes to the Disclosure Pilot Scheme
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Disputes Quick Read: Judicial Review and Courts Bill – unpacking the UK government's proposed amendments
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Disputes Quick Read: Will litigants be compelled to participate in alternative dispute resolution?
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Disputes Quick Read: Freezing injunctions – maximum custodial sentence imposed for breach
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Disputes Quick Read: The online future of civil justice – the end of the legal profession or the end of legal drudgery?
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Disputes Quick Read: One Blackfriars administrators cleared of misfeasance
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Disputes Quick Read: Not your prerogative – the Independent Review of Administrative Law reports its recommendations on judicial review
21 April 2021
Disputes Quick Read: Amendments to the Disclosure Pilot Scheme – a step in the right direction
31 March 2021
Disputes Quick Read: UK Supreme Court rules on the territorial extent of the SFO's powers
26 February 2021
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Disputes Quick Read: No dropping anchor – parent company liability for environmental claims
24 February 2021
Disputes Quick Read: What lawyers need to know about new witness statement preparation rules
20 January 2021
Disputes Quick Read: Should you still choose the English courts to have jurisdiction in your international contracts after Brexit?
12 January 2021
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Disputes Quick Read: Privilege lost in the EU post-Brexit (with exceptions)
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Disputes Quick Read: Law on interest applicable to US dollar awards reaffirmed
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Disputes Quick Read: Care required when drafting SPA claim notices
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Disputes Quick Read: Why the modernised LCIA rules are a welcome update
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Disputes Quick Read: COVID-19 and supply chain disruption – key issues
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Disputes Quick Read: High Court orders parties to explore options for 5-week remote trial
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Disputes Quick Read: Tomlin Orders – ensuring the confidentiality of settlement terms
27 April 2020
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Disputes Quick Read: UK's OFSI fines Standard Chartered Bank £20 million for sanctions breaches
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Disputes Quick Read: A different approach to witness evidence
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Disputes Quick Read: Coronavirus - a growth in virtual courts?
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Disputes quick read: climate change activism by litigation
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Disputes Quick Read: Commercial Court's arbitral power shift
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Disputes Quick Read: Court stays evictions during COVID-19 – is this lawful?
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Disputes Quick Read: Will the civil justice system change forever post COVID-19?
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Disputes Quick Read: Retailers reign supreme in Visa and Mastercard proceedings
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Disputes Quick Read: The contra proferentem rule reconsidered?
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Disputes Quick Read: Scope of duty and the SAAMCo counterfactual following Manchester Building Society
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Disputes Quick Read: Facilitating transactions in cryptoassets - Lord Leggatt and the point of commercial law
24 November 2021
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Disputes Quick Read: Privy Council clarifies the law on freezing injunctions in aid of foreign proceedings
8 October 2021
Disputes Quick Read: Climate change litigation – what's the latest?
10 January 2022
Disputes Quick Read: Court decisions on the Disclosure Pilot Scheme – the 2021 roundup
20 January 2022
Disputes Quick Read: Assumption of responsibility - tax schemes and investors
22 March 2022
Disputes Quick Read: Dealing in crypto? Be careful what you call it
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