Bentley v Jones Harris and Company: CA 2 Nov 2001

Latham LJ said: ‘it will only be in a rare case that the judge should be asked to determine the issues before him before all the evidence has been completed. However, it seems to me that, if a judge concludes at the end of a claimant’s evidence, whether on the application of the defendant or of his own motion, that the claimant has no real prospect of success or, in other words, is bound to fail, on his assessment of the evidence before him at that stage, he is in my view entitled to give judgment for the defendant, in the same way as if there had been an application at an earlier stage in the proceedings for summary judgment under CPR Part 24.2. In that way he will be giving effect, in the circumstances of a trial, to the overriding objective and in particular to the need to contain within limits the expenditure of time and costs on the particular case before him.’

Judges:

Latham LJ, Burton J

Citations:

[2001] EWCA Civ 1678, [2001] EWCA Civ 1724

Links:

Bailii, Bailii

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Cited by:

CitedNeina Graham v Chorley Borough Council CA 21-Feb-2006
The defendant had submitted after the close of the claimant’s case that it had no case to answer. The judge did not put the defendant to its election as to whether to call evidence, but instead decided to accede to the submission. The claimant now . .
CitedFairclough Homes Ltd v Summers SC 27-Jun-2012
The respondent had made a personal injury claim, but had then been discovered to have wildly and dishonestly exaggerated the damages claim. The defendant argued that the court should hand down some condign form of punishment, and appealed against . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Litigation Practice

Updated: 13 June 2022; Ref: scu.201469