Description
Requiring notice from a party that intended to place reliance on hearsay evidence within an agreed court bundle was undesirable.
The court held that in essentially straightforward litigation, where a party intended to place reliance on hearsay evidence, the best option might be to ensure that an opposing case was properly pleaded and then the obligation would lie on each party's lawyers to go through the agreed documents with the client or witness and take instructions on any relevant discrepant hearsay evidence. To require notice that reliance was to be placed on hearsay contained in a bundle did not sit well with PD 32 paragraph 27 which provided that all documents contained in bundles which had been agreed for use at a hearing were to be admissible as evidence. It would also be likely to lead to almost limitless and costly wrangling before and at trial.
