Darren Sylvester toys with the Part 36 conundrum
Recent court decisions have confirmed that Pt 36 of the CPR is a self-contained code governed by its own provisions. General common law principles relating to offer and acceptance do not apply (see Gibbon v Manchester City Council and LG Blower Specialist Bricklayer Ltd v Reeves [2010] EWCA Civ 726, [2011] 2 All ER 258).
Even more recently was the decision of C v D and another [2010] EWHC 2940 (Ch), [2011] 2 All ER 404. In this case, the question arose whether the claimant’s offer to settle—which was expressed to be open for acceptance for a specified period of time—was a Pt 36 offer.
In C v D and another the claimant brought proceedings against the defendants for damages for the defendants’ alleged breach of contract in relation to a sale of land. The claimant made an offer by letter headed “Offer to settle under CPR Pt 36”, which included reference to the offer being
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