Fernando vs Silva – sllr 2005 volume 2 page 001

In Fernando v. Silva, the court addressed the interpretation of the Civil Procedure Code concerning the method by which a defendant must deny averments in pleadings, particularly where linguistic differences exist between the English and Sinhala versions of legal terminology. It was determined that effective communication of a denial in substance is sufficient, even if the exact English legal term “deny” has no equivalent in Sinhala. The court ruled that the form of the denial is subordinate to its substantive effect. Key legal authorities and precedents reinforced the holding, with the deletion of paragraphs previously marked as admissions and the award of costs to the defendant. This decision highlights the primacy of substantive justice over technicalities in pleadings.

Amaratunga J. —