Without Prejudice
A rule of evidence preventing statements made in a genuine attempt to settle a dispute from being put before the court as evidence of admissions. Protects the parties' ability to negotiate freely.
Independent editorial summary — not the official statute text. Read the official version on legislation.gov.uk.
The Ministry of Justice's own Civil Procedure Rules glossary describes the principle directly: 'Negotiations with a view to a settlement are usually conducted "without prejudice", which means that the circumstances in which the content of those negotiations may be revealed to the court are very restricted.'
In an employment context, Acas guidance sets out what is actually needed for the protection to apply: for settlement discussions to be protected under 'without prejudice', there must be an 'existing dispute', a genuine attempt to settle that dispute, and no 'unambiguous impropriety' during the discussions. Where those conditions are met, the discussions usually cannot be used as evidence in an employment tribunal or another court — though the protection can be lost if there has been 'unambiguous impropriety'.
Related terms
Official sources
This explanation is drawn from the official sources below; every substantive statement is verified against them. For advice on a specific matter, see our find help page.