COURT LANGUAGE: Pleadings - Anthea McGibbon

What is pleadings

In Jamaica we have often heard the statement ‘Parish Court is not a court of pleadings, but the Supreme Court is’. In fact this matter of pleadings is what makes the Supreme Court superior to all Parish courts. This is so despite the fact that appeals about decisions in both the Parish and Supreme court are equally heard in the Court of Appeal.
So WHAT IS PLEADINGS?
In simple explanation pleadings are the technical outline of the facts to explain to the Judge what happened, how the claimant/plaintiff was hurt, and so the reason legal relief is being sought.
Pleadings serve 4 main functions:
notify of the claim or defense, to reveal the facts of the complaint; to formulate the issues; and to assist the particular court to determine the facts and flow
EXAMPLE. to plead or not to plead

At the Parish Court level, the plaintiff/claimant only needs to outline as succinctly as possible what happened. For instance in recovery claims, it is only necessary to set out who owns the property, who occupies it, how they came to occupy, and the reason recovery of the premises is required. When pleadings are introduced, the plaintiff/claimant gets into a rigorous and emotional outline, sometimes employing legal technicalities.
There are instances when trial goes into elaborate detail at the discretion of the Parish Judge.
However, the Judge only should be satisfied of the title, that the plaintiff/claimant has sufficient reason to be granted recovery of possession of the premises. Any other argument is a matter of pleadings.
For example, when the Defendant argues against the proof of title, this argument borders on pleadings and better left to the Supreme Court, if it becomes legally technical.
There are times when the Parish Judge so trained identifies the real issues and settles the matter saving time in both courts and excessive use of funds to keep the case alive in any court.

When the Defendant offers a response he/she simply either rejects the plaintiff’s demand by denying the truth of the facts outlined, or, by stating new facts to defeat said outlined facts.

REFERENCE AUTHORITIES
The Free Dictionary
Law Journals
CASE: Smith (Shawn Marie) v Pinnock (Winston)

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EDITOR’S NOTES:
The above does not constitute legal advice. Inhouse senior journalists research and discuss with specialists eg attorneys-at-law, as necessary before posting responses. In conclusion, names are changed at times by request.

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