Admissions
Disputes & Litigation

An admission is a statement by a party to legal proceedings which is against the interests of the party making the statement. It is a statement which admits the truth of the whole or any part of another party's case. When an admission is made in court legal proceedings, the party who seeks to rely upon the fact or prove the fact is relieved of discharging the burden of proof at the trial. Admissions may be made orally, in writing or by conduct,

Informal statements of one’s own interests are generally admissible. This however relates to adducing the evidence of the admission to the court rather than the weight of the admission.

Admissions may be made in a number of different circumstances or times:

1. Before the commencement of legal proceedings, in pre-action correspondence. These are usually known as “pre-action admissions”.

Judgment may be entered on the basis of pre-action admissions. In addition the defendant making the admission may apply for the permission of the court to withdraw it.

2. After the commencement of litigation, admissions may be made:

a. In the acknowledgement of service.

b. For the purposes of the trial.

Typically such admissions would be made in a statement of case (ie a pleading), which includes, inter alia, the particulars of claim and defence. Statements of case are supported by statements of truth and therefore difficult to resile from. Admissions may also be made writing in a letter.

c. In response to a request for further information and clarification.

d. In respect to the authenticity of a document, unless the party to the litigation gives notice that the document is to be proved at the trial, the authenticity of the document is admitted.

e. By failing to deal (or “traverse”) an allegation of fact set out in a statement of case served by the opposing party.

f. By agreement.

g. By counsel at the trial.

 

Insofar as the claim is for money alone, admissions may be made within 14 days of service of the particulars of claim for:

1. The whole of the claim;
2. Part of the claim;
3. Liability to pay the whole of the claim for an unspecified sum of money;
4. Liability to pay the whole of the claim for an unspecified amount of money where the defendant offers a sum in satisfaction of the claim.

Withdrawal

The Court has a general discretion to permit a party to withdraw an admission, and may do so after an assessment of the prejudice which would be caused to each of the parties and consideration of all the circumstances and the overriding objective. The burden of proof lies with the party seeking to withdraw the admission. Usually the Court will consider whether a party has relied upon the admission to its own detriment. Unjustified or unexplained delay making the application to withdraw the admission is likely to be fatal to an application.

Reliability

The circumstances of an admission are likely to affect the weight the Court attributes to an admission and the inferences to be drawn. For instance, the admission may have been made by a party labouring under a misapprehension of law or fact or made in ignorance of relevant facts. In addition, the court may take the view that it is unlikely that a person in the shoes of the witness would have made the admission in the circumstances in conjunction with other contemporaneous events; it may also be relevant to consider whether the person had a motive to conceal or misrepresent matters.