The case provides a detailed synthesis of 12 principles governing amendment applications under the UCPR, applying the then-recent High Court decision in Aon Risk Services v ANU to a pre-trial context. A party is not entitled to raise any arguable case at any point in proceedings on payment of costs. UCPR 5 qualifies the right to amend without leave under UCPR 378, and the court may disallow amendments as a sanction for breach of the implied undertaking to proceed expeditiously. Where new causes of action are statute-barred and the plaintiff has not explained delay, leave will be refused where the prejudice to the defendant — particularly from being required to recall the detail of old transactions — cannot be adequately remedied by costs.
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