Smokeball. Legal Practice Guides and Precedents.

Pleadings and particulars - Pts 14 & 15

UNIFORM CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES 2005
 
The Supreme Court is a Court of strict pleading. This means all pleadings must comply with the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules, in particular Parts 14 (Pleadings) and 15 (Particulars).
 
The material facts founding the cause of action and defence must be pleaded and with as much brevity as possible.
 
Proper particulars of the claim must also be pleaded in all cases. Where serious allegations of fraud, misrepresentation, breach of trust, wilful default or undue influence are made proper particulars must be given of the allegations relied upon: r 15.3.
 
Also see r 15.4 which requires proper particulars of any “condition of mind” to be specifically pleaded.
 
In both a Statement of Claim and Defence the following matters must be specifically pleaded:
 

1. any matter, if not specifically pleaded, that would take the plaintiff or defendant by surprise;
2. any matter that the party alleges makes any claim, defence or other case of the opposite party not maintainable which include: 

• fraud (and particularised r 15.3)
• performance
• release
• statute of limitation
• extinction of right or title
• voluntary assumption of risk
• causation of accident by unknown and undiscoverable mechanical defect and
• facts showing illegality; or
• that raises matters of fact not arising out of the preceding pleading: r 14.14.

 
In proceedings for possession of land the following matters set out in r 14.15 must be specifically pleaded:
 
(a) the nature of any instrument (such as a certificate of title, conveyance, will, trust instrument, mortgage or lease) from which the plaintiff’s claim is alleged to be derived,
 
(b) if any such instrument is alleged to impose an obligation on the defendant whose breach has given rise to the plaintiff’s claim (such as an obligation to pay money to the plaintiff), the existence of that obligation and the occurrence of any such breach,
 
(c) if any such instrument is alleged to confer a right on the plaintiff that vests at a specified time or is contingent on the occurrence of a specified event, the existence of that right and the occurrence of any such time or event,
 
(d) if the plaintiff’s right to possession arises from the defendant’s failure to pay money to the plaintiff, particulars of the date on which the failure began, the amount of money currently unpaid and the method by which that amount has been calculated,
 
(e) if the plaintiff’s right to possession arises from any other act or omission by the defendant, particulars of the date on which the act or omission occurred and the nature of the act or omission,
 
(f) if the plaintiff’s right to possession is not exercisable until the plaintiff has given notice to the defendant of the plaintiff’s intention to exercise that right, the date on which, and the terms in which, such notice was given.
 
The defendant must plead specifically every ground of defence on which he or she relies, including:

• any claim for relief against forfeiture, and
• any claim for rectification, and
• any claim for relief under the Contracts Review Act 1980 ,
• and it is not sufficient for a defendant to merely state that he or she is in possession of the land (whether personally or by a tenant) and relies on that possession.

 
Pleadings in Defamation are the subject of specific and very technical rules. See Division 6 UCPR, r 14.30. Defamation is a highly specialist jurisdiction and will usually require counsel to be briefed.
 
A very useful introduction to the art of pleading is in Rose’s Pleadings Without Tears in Australia. It is recommended reading.

Pleading to Particulars

Do not plead to particulars. It is not required by the Rules.