Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Defendant definition

What does Defendant mean? In legal practice, “defendant” describes the party against whom court proceedings are brought, whether a civil claim or a criminal charge. In England and Wales the term is defined in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR 2.3) as a person against whom a claim is made; it is also used in the Criminal Procedure Rules. Northern Ireland follows similar usage. In Scotland, the civil counterpart is the “defender” (claimant is the pursuer), and in criminal cases the person is referred to as the “accused” (also the “panel” in solemn proceedings). In Ireland, civil procedure uses “defendant” under the Rules of...

Identifying Defendants and Insurers in Occupational Disease Litigation: divisible/indivisible harm, HMRC employment histories, ELTO tracing, TP(RAI)A and FSCS (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis PI & Clinical Negligence expert

Practice notes

This Practice Note offers guidance on identifying the appropriate Defendant in disease claims. It addresses the distinction between divisible and indivisible harm, and gives practical direction on obtaining the documents required to pinpoint the correct defendant and on tracing an insurer who is difficult to find.

Initial considerations

Typically, a new Client approaches the Claimant practitioner with a recent diagnosis of illness or disease, potentially arising from historical workplace exposure. It is common for the client to already have a diagnosis, and the first step is to establish exactly what that diagnosis is and how it might relate to occupational exposure. For example, where a client reports hearing loss, the practitioner will look for audiograms and possibly other medical records showing sensorineural impairment with a pattern indicative of noise-induced loss.

Identifying potential defendants

If there appears to be a link between the condition and work or the workplace, the claimant practitioner’s task is to identify the potential defendants and their insurers, with a view to commencing the pre-action process. Disease claims are often ‘long-tail’ matters and there may...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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