The Court of Appeal has rejected an argument that a defendant must make reasonable enquiries of third parties before pleading in its defence that it is unable to either admit or deny an allegation and requires the claimant to prove it: SPI North Ltd v Swiss Post International (UK) Ltd and Asendia UK Ltd [2019] … Read more

In a recent judgment, the High Court rejected an application for default judgment on the basis that the defendant’s acknowledgement of service, though late, had been filed shortly before the application: Cunico Resources NV v Daskalakis [2018] EWHC 3382 (Comm). The decision turned on the interpretation of CPR 12.3(1), which sets out the conditions to … Read more

In a recent decision, the Court of Appeal has clarified the approach to be taken in determining whether the court should allow inspection of a document "mentioned" in a witness statement or statement of case: Blue Holdings (1) PTE Ltd & another v National Crime Agency [2016] EWCA Civ 760.  The decision confirms that there is … Read more

In what may be seen as a surprising decision, the Commercial Court has treated service of particulars of claim on the defendant’s lawyer by e-mail as valid service, despite the fact that the lawyer had not agreed to accept service by e-mail and in any event the purported service was five days late. The court held that the … Read more

The Commercial Court has, with obvious reluctance, struck out a claim on the basis that the claimant was 20 days late in serving particulars of claim:  Associated Electrical Industries Limited v Alstom UK [2014] EWHC 430 (Comm). The judge commented that, if his decision had depended only on what was just and fair between the parties, … Read more

The High Court has refused an application to extend time for service of particulars of claim in circumstances where a fresh action would be time barred, with the result that the claimant will be unable to pursue its claim against the relevant defendants: Venulum Property Investments Ltd v Space Architecture Ltd and others [2013] EWHC … Read more

A recent High Court decision illustrates the need for parties to be clear as to the impact of a stay on procedural time limits in the action: UK Highways A55 Ltd v Hyder Consulting (UK) Ltd [2012] EWHC 3505 (TCC). The decision suggests that, where an action has been stayed for a period of time, … Read more

In the context of the phone hacking litigation, the High Court has considered the principles governing which court documents are publicly available: Various claimants v News Group Newspapers Ltd and another [2012] EWHC 397 (Ch). Under CPR 5.4C a non-party to proceedings can obtain, without the court’s permission, a copy of a statement of case or … Read more