Raising Fresh Cause of Action: One Limit of A Counter-Claim

Litigation is often considered the last resort in the conflict resolution process. The litigation mechanism is commenced by the aggrieved party - the Plaintiff - taking out a writ against the other party in Court. Where a matter is contentious, the Rules of Court requires the Plaintiff to commence the suit by way of a Writ of Summons which should be filed along with a Statement of Claim and served on the other party (the Defendant). When served, a Defendant amongst other things is required to file a Statement of Defence. However, there are circumstances in which the Defendant may also have a claim against the Plaintiff and may want to make his claim against him. Ordinarily, he should file a separate action against the Plaintiff; but for convenience, the Rules of Court allows the Defendant to counter-claim against the Plaintiff in the same suit by filing a “Statement of Defence and Counter-claim”. This article considers the question whether a Defendant in counter-claiming against the Plaintiff can rely on facts which emerged during the pendency of the suit.