{"id":1968,"date":"2020-03-11T09:32:48","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T07:32:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fzmayuxbif.wpdns.site\/?p=1968"},"modified":"2023-07-12T09:39:15","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T06:39:15","slug":"litigants-beware-supreme-courts-stark-reminder-that-pleadings-are-central-to-litigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kyprianou.com\/de\/litigants-beware-supreme-courts-stark-reminder-that-pleadings-are-central-to-litigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Litigants beware! Supreme Court\u2019s stark reminder that pleadings are central to litigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a recent decision (Zografos and others v. Drosoneri Farm Ltd – Civil Appeal 379\/2012), the Supreme Court ruled that, when examining a case, a Court cannot look at independent issues that have not been included in the parties\u2019 pleadings \u2013 a stark reminder to litigants (and their lawyers) of the important role of pleadings in litigation.<\/p>\n

The facts of the case<\/h3>\n

An arbitrator in a dispute made an award in favour of one of the two parties. The other party applied to the Court to set aside the award on the basis of alleged misconduct by the arbitrator, contrary to section 20 (2) of the Arbitration Law, Cap. 4.<\/p>\n

An originating summons supported by affidavits was filed, without however this procedural matter being examined by the Court. On the contrary, it was mutually accepted by the parties that the contents of the affidavits had the same role and significance as pleadings in a civil action, thus limiting the matters in issue to the actual contents of the affidavits.<\/p>\n

The Court of first instance set aside the arbitrators\u2019 award on the basis of an issue that was raised during the proceedings, namely the fact that one of the arbitrators attended a meeting with a director of one of the litigants in which he was asked to rule in favour of that party. The arbitrator immediately refused and ended the meeting. This matter was not set out in any of the parties\u2019 pleadings.<\/p>\n

The appeal before the Supreme Court was made on two grounds: first, that the Court at first instance had examined an extraneous matter, (i.e. an issue that was not alleged in the pleadings) and, second, that the arbitrator\u2019s conduct was in breach of the duties set out in the relevant legislation.<\/p>\n

The Supreme Court\u2019s Decision<\/h3>\n

The Supreme Court relied on the first ground and decided to allow the appeal, on the basis that the matter raised was beyond the limits set by the framework set out in the parties\u2019 pleadings. In other words, the Court of first instance acted unfairly in setting aside the arbitrators\u2019 award for reasons that were not mentioned in and were independent of the parties\u2019 pleadings.<\/p>\n

Comment<\/h3>\n

The decision highlights the central role that pleadings have in a case and is a reminder to all parties that they should include all points that require the Court\u2019s examination in their pleadings.<\/p>\n

The content of this article is valid as at the date of its first publication. It is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter and does not constitute legal advice. We recommend that you seek professional advice on your specific matter before acting on any information provided. For further information or advice, please contact\u00a0<\/em>us<\/em>\u00a0at\u00a0<\/em>info@kyprianou.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a recent decision (Zografos and others v. Drosoneri Farm Ltd – Civil Appeal 379\/2012), the Supreme Court ruled that, when examining a case, a Court cannot look at independent issues that have not been included in the parties\u2019 pleadings \u2013 a stark reminder to litigants (and their lawyers) of the important role of pleadings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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