Bates & Ors v Post Office Ltd (No 2) [2018] EWHC 2698 (QB) (17 October 2018)

Bates & Ors v Post Office Ltd (No 2) [2018] EWHC 2698 (QB) (17 October 2018)

The defendant has not discharged the heavy burden required to justify striking out the challenged passages. The evidence may be relevant or sufficiently helpful to the Common Issues, particularly given the nature of group litigation, the pleaded issues of agency, contractual construction, and the factual matrix. The application is refused and the evidence will not be struck out.

Citation
[2018] EWHC 2698
Parties
Claimant: Alan Bates and Others; Defendant: Post Office Limited
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
17 October 2018
Procedural Posture
Group Litigation Order (glo) Civil / Interlocutory Application (application to Strike Out Evidence) Prior to Common Issues Trial
Outcome
Application refused
Legal Topics
Group Litigation, Strike Out Applications, Admissibility of Evidence, Contractual Construction, Burden of Proof, Agency Principles, Relational Contracts
Civil Procedure Contract Law Agency Law Evidence Group Litigation Strike Out Applications Admissibility of Evidence Contractual Construction +3 more

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Parties

Alan Bates and Others

Claimant

Post Office Limited

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Group Litigation Order (glo) Civil / Interlocutory Application (application to Strike Out Evidence) Prior to Common Issues Trial

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether large portions of the claimants' witness statements should be struck out as irrelevant to the Common Issues trial
  2. 2 Whether the evidence challenged is inadmissible or unhelpful to the resolution of the Common Issues
  3. 3 Whether the court should exercise its case management powers to exclude evidence at the interlocutory stage

Ratio Decidendi

The defendant has not discharged the heavy burden required to justify striking out the challenged passages. The evidence may be relevant or sufficiently helpful to the Common Issues, particularly given the nature of group litigation, the pleaded issues of agency, contractual construction, and the factual matrix. The application is refused and the evidence will not be struck out.

Court Disposition

Application refused

Orders

  • The defendant's application to strike out passages of the claimants' witness statements is dismissed.
  • The challenged evidence will be admitted for the Common Issues trial.