What happens when one party appears to concede an important part of their case, asks James Chegwidden
When can a party be said conclusively to have conceded a point? How should lawyers deal with concessions or apparent concessions? And what should tribunals (and lawyers) do where a concession made on a point of law is simply wrong? These questions faced the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in Ségor v Goodrich Actuation Systems Limited [2012] UKEAT/0145/11/DM. Its judgment sets down the approach to take, especially where the party apparently conceding a point is unrepresented. The procedure recommended to parties and lawyers finding themselves in this position is likely to become best practice in such situations in future.
Concessions generally
As is elementary, a claimant in civil litigation bears the onus of proving his own case. To do that, a claimant has full freedom to frame his own case as he sees fit. The same applies to a defendant, who enjoys the right to frame his defences as he considers best. If, after framing an argument,
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