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A heading on correspondence, keeping it out of evidence.
Also known as: Words at the top of a legal letter, Without prejudice save as to costs
Two words at the top of a letter. Where a genuine attempt to settle a dispute is under way, they mark the correspondence as inadmissible — and they work because of what the letter is doing, not because of the label.
A heading applied to correspondence forming part of a genuine attempt to settle a dispute, marking it as inadmissible in evidence on the issues in dispute.
A record about how a reference is written, not about what the law says. Nothing here is legal advice.
England and Wales
The protection comes from the content, not the label. Correspondence that is genuinely part of a negotiation is protected whether or not it is marked, and a letter that is not is unprotected however it is headed.
Widely treated as an incantation. Writing it on a letter that is not a settlement attempt achieves nothing.
The variant 'save as to costs' keeps the correspondence out of evidence on the dispute itself but allows it to be shown to the court when costs are decided.
England and Wales
Two words in bold or capitals at the head of a letter, above the address and the date, sometimes underlined.