Without Prejudice

[Squitty]

I have a letter from one of my customers demanding that I do something before a certain date or else. The date is unreasonable so its not possible and I expect they will take further action. However, they have marked the letter as 'without prejudice' - does this mean they will be able to use this in court as in 'we demanded by a certain date and it didnt happen so Squitty is at fault' ?

[Davethedog]

The opposite he belives that by outting that on his letter you won,t be able to use it in a court of law. However I think this is only in civil cases and not criminal so if he has threatend you, you can.

I am not in anyway legaly trained so I would consult a soliciter.

[Squitty]

Thanks Dave - I think it means without prejudicing my(their) case against you(me) but I think it works both ways. I have heard that lots of people use the term incorrectly - almost to make a letter just look 'legal'

[buildersmate]

Dave's first statement is correct - it means that you cannot use the content of the letter against the author in the event of a legal case. The second part of his answer does not help, because we are ONLY dealing with civil law here - there is nothing criminal about this.
Rather than try and explain it in text, here's a link
http://www.andrewjackson.co.uk/legal-resources /legal-fact-files/how-to-use-without-prejudice -to-protect-your-interests/

[garethjamess]

Hi,

The question that arises firstly, is what the demand is for. If it is for instants for payment of a debt, sufficient time should be provided, however the particulars of the time frame depends on the type of contract. In any event, if your customer were to commence any form of Civil proceedings a without prejudice notice of court action will not suffice as sufficient under the Civil Procedure Ruled, and the tenet of the pre action protocols. For any commencement of court proceedings a 7 day notice should be issued, and then draft particulars of the claim, together with any document(s) to which the claim relates. If proceedings are commenced without the prescribed notice having been provided, then you may bring this to the attention of the court concerning the question of costs. Any without prejudice letters may be presented to the court on the question of costs, however this can only occur after judgment is given, and usually it is good practice to mark any correspondence with such an intention as 'without prejudice save as to costs. If you need any more advice then you will need to provide more detail of the circumstances. Hope this helps!

[joggerjayne]

I AM legally trained.

Whether or not a letter is "Without Prejudice" is determined by the content ... not by whether or not the sender has scrawled "Without Prejudice" on the top.

If, and only if, the letter contains a genuine proposal to settle the dispute, then it is treated a privileged (or, Without Prejudice), and you can't refer to it in subsequent Court proceedings.

If it does not, then it is not privileged (even if it has the words "Without Prejudice") on it.