Have you ever, be it as a lawyer or a client, encountered
scenario where at the stage where the pleadings have been closed
(close of pleadings) and the matter has already entered the stage
close to pre-trial case management or trial, you suddenly found a
new claim, cause of action, defence, fact, evidence or statement
that was not pleaded before in either Statement of Claim, Statement
of Defence and/or Reply to Defence? In this article, we are going
to delve deep into the discussion whether we can amend the
pleadings when the pleadings have been closed based on courts'
decisions from landmark cases as well as recent cases in
Malaysia.
Generally, the application to amend pleadings is governed under
Order 20 Rule 5 Rules of Court 2012: "... the Court may at
any stage of the proceedings allow the plaintiff to amend his writ,
or any party to amend his pleading, on such terms as to costs or
otherwise as may be just ..."
