Read v McEwen & Anor

In Read v McEwen, the plaintiff sought to amend their defence at trial to withdraw an admission made by the defendant. The matter was before the Supreme Court of Queensland. The defendant had previously applied to amend their defence to include a cross-claim, which raised new issues including a limitation point. The plaintiff argued that the defendant should be precluded from amending their defence again due to the potential prejudice caused by the delay in withdrawing the admission.

The court considered whether the defendant's application to amend the defence was an abuse of process and whether the plaintiff would be prejudiced by the proposed amendment. The court noted that the plaintiff had been aware of the cross-claim since the earlier amendment and had not raised any objections to it. The court found that the prejudice to the plaintiff was limited to the preparation of their case on the assumption that no evidence would be needed on the admitted issue. The court held that it was in the interest of justice for all issues between the parties to be ventilated at trial.

The court allowed the defendant's application to amend their defence, finding that the prejudice to the plaintiff was not significant enough to warrant refusing the amendment. The court also noted that the defendant had a legitimate interest in having all issues between the parties determined at trial. The court held that the defendant's application to withdraw the admission was not an abuse of process and should be allowed.