There had been a failure to serve process where service of process was required. The result was that the order made based upon that process was irregular.
Held: In the exercise of its inherent jurisdiction, the Court was entitled to set it aside without the need for an appeal. A person who is affected by an order of the Court which can properly be described as a nullity, is entitled ex debito justitiae to have it set aside. There is an inherent jurisdiction to set aside a determination made where there has been a failure to observe the principle that a person against whom a charge or claim is made must be given a reasonable opportunity of appearing and presenting his or her case.
Lord Greene MR
[1943] 1 KB 256, [1943] 1 All ER 108
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Lord Chancellor and others ex parte Riniker CA 28-Feb-1997
The applicant sought judicial review of a refusal of her request that a judgment of the Court of Appeal should not be published.
Held: The applicants complaints were not well founded. ‘Her attempt to restrain publication of the Court of Appeal . .
Criticised – In re Pritchard CA 1963
An originating summons seeking relief was accepted and sealed in a local district registry. It ought to have been sealed in the Central Office of the Royal Courts of Justice. Wilberforce J had held that the originating summons was a nullity and that . .
Obiter remarks criticised – Strachan v The Gleaner Company Limited and Stokes PC 25-Jul-2005
PC (Jamacia) The plaintiff challenged an order setting aside a default assessment of damages in his claim for defamation. After the action was lost, two witnesses had come forward who might have allowed a defence . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Litigation Practice, Natural Justice
Leading Case
Updated: 02 November 2021; Ref: scu.227950