Legislation wording - 'without prejudice'

[Dandal88]

Hello,

(Apologies if this is the wrong forum area)

The term 'without prejudice' as written in legislation (example provided below). What does it mean in laymans terms?

In terms of the example below, I take it to mean 'without revoking the duties given in paragraph X - this, this and that should be done. So long as it doesn't contradict paragraph X'.

Example from the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations:

(1) Every employer shall ensure that work equipment incorporates any warnings or warning devices which are appropriate for reasons of health and safety.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1), warnings given by warning devices on work equipment shall not be appropriate unless they are unambiguous, easily perceived and easily understood.

I imagine the answer is always going to depend on the context of the paragraph, but I see it come up a lot in legislation, and would like a broader understanding of what it means.

Thanks!

[R0b]

Pretty much what you take it to mean, but not as far as "so long as it does not contradict paragraph X".

"Without prejudice to..." is intended to be used where two or more clauses are interconnected in some way, usually where one might argue there is a conflict or a potential to conflict.

For example if you have Clause A that contains certain obligations and Clause B starts with "Without prejudice to Clause A..." what it means in practice is that nothing stated in Clause B will affect the obligations in Clause A.

You might see similar wording that is less legalistic such as "Without affecting the rights or obligations set out in Clause X..."

Note: The "Without prejudice to.." wording should not be confused with other similar sentences such as "Notwithstanding Clause X" or "Subject to Clause X" which might have a slightly different meaning depending on the context.

"Notwithstanding" and "Subject to" are usually referring to overriding clauses.