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 open for 21 days from the date of the letter
