Pleading (England and Wales)

Pleading in England and Wales is covered by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). These rules set a high priority on attempts to resolve all matters able to be resolved by the parties, prior to hearing (or trial).

The pleadings are contained in various Statements of Case - usually the Claim and any associated Particulars of Claim, the Defence, and an optional reply to the Defence. The Claim, Particulars of Claim, and Defence, are broadly equivalent to the Summons, Complaint and Answer filed in some other jurisdictions). The pleadings set out succinctly the claims made by each side, and their legal basis, and provide a basis to explore the issues in the case. They must specify the basic facts which are alleged, but need not evidence those facts or any extensive legal argument (these are addressed at later stages of the process). Some types of allegation must be expressly stated in the appropriate statement of case, if they will be alleged or relied upon at a later stage.

The Civil Procedure Rules ("CPR") and their accompanying Practice Directions provide, within the framework of legislation, the detailed rules about how courts and cases are conducted.

Formal proceedings should be preceded by an initial exchange of correspondence in accordance with the . mediation and legally binding offers to resolve are also strongly encouraged and the applicable rules are set out within CPR.

Such exchanges are not technically part of the pleading process, and parties are not encouraged to take points on any discrepancy between pre-action correspondence and the formal statements of case. Their function is to facilitate out-of-court approaches to resolving the dispute, or identifying the issues that divide the parties. The courts consider the genuineness of attempts to resolve the case by dialogue, when considering how costs will be bourne by the parties.

There are three initial documents upon which a case is founded: a Claim and (in most cases) the Particulars of Claim, and the Defence. These are broadly equivalent to the Summons, Complaint and Answer filed in some other jurisdictions. They set out the case to be presented by each party, briefly but in sufficient detail to understand the legal issues in dispute and claims made by each party as a result.

The stated "value" on the Claim form excludes any costs and interest. It is generally worded to match one of the standard sums addressed in different kinds of court ("Not more than £X" or "Not less than £X and not more than £Y", or "Cannot be said").

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