Communications marked as 'without prejudice' cannot be used by the other party as evidence in court. This means that parties can speak openly about the matters in dispute without the risk of the other party using that information against them later.
What is the Without Prejudice rule? In relation to all three of the above when communications between parties are considered “Without Prejudice”, this means that the content of the communication usually cannot be used as evidence or made the subject of a disclosure.
In addition, parties who negotiate on a without prejudice basis assume that this means that they can speak freely and that what they say will not be raised in any court proceedings or other formal dispute resolution proceedings.
A without prejudice offer can be used to resolve a legal dispute by enabling parties to make settlement offers without the risk of those offers being used against them in court. This protection encourages parties to engage in genuine negotiations to reach a settlement.
A “without prejudice” communication is inadmissible as evidence in court. This is to encourage the parties to communicate freely towards settling their dispute, without fearing that whatever they said or wrote would be used against them.
The purpose of the without prejudice rule is to encourage parties to a dispute to try and reach a settlement by allowing them and their legal advisers to speak freely and make concessions knowing that their words cannot be used against them later in court if the negotiations fail to achieve settlement.
Without Prejudice Meaning The basic meaning of 'without prejudice' is that statements made in the settlement of an existing dispute cannot be relied upon as evidence against the interests of the relevant party if negotiations fail and the parties then have to formally engage in a dispute resolution procedure.
The without prejudice (WP) rule will generally prevent statements made in a genuine attempt to settle an existing dispute, whether made in writing or orally, from being put before the court as evidence of admissions against the interests of the party which made them.
LEGALESE: “WITHOUT PREJUDICE TO” “Without prejudice to”. Whilst it sounds like a strange phrase, you will often find it written in contracts. The term indicates to a reader that what is being said in a clause (Clause 1) does not reduce or limit any right or liability set out in another clause (Clause 2).
Dismissal without prejudice means that the judge dismissed the plaintiff's or prosecutor's case without damaging their right to have their matter heard in court later. A prosecutor may ask to withdraw the case against a person to have more time to make a case stronger, find more evidence or question other witnesses.