The House emphasised the width of the jurisdiction to excuse default in the case of a defendant seeking to have a default judgment set aside and to be let in to defend.
Lord Atkin said: ‘The principle obviously is that, unless and until the court has pronounced a judgment upon the merits or by consent, it is to have the power to revoke the expression of its coercive power where that has only been obtained by a failure to follow any of the rules of procedure’, and: ‘if the appellate tribunal ‘sees that on other grounds (i.e. other than grounds of law) the decision will result in injustice being done it has both the power and the duty to remedy it’
Lord Wright said: ‘It is . . often convenient in practice to lay down, not rules of law, but some general indications, to help the Court in exercising the discretion . .’
Lord Atkin, Lord Wright, Lord Russell of Killowen
[1937] AC 473, [1937] 2 All ER 646, (1937) 53 TLR 689
England and Wales
Citing:
Approved – Gardner v Jay CA 1885
Bowen LJ said: ‘When a tribunal is invested by Act of Parliament or by Rules with a discretion, without any indication in the Act or Rules of the grounds upon which the discretion is to be exercised, it is a mistake to lay down any rules with a view . .
Cited by:
Cited – 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 . .
Cited – Black-Clawson International Ltd v Papierwerke Waldhof Aschaffenburg AG HL 5-Mar-1975
Statute’s Mischief May be Inspected
The House considered limitations upon them in reading statements made in the Houses of Parliament when construing a statute.
Held: It is rare that a statute can be properly interpreted without knowing the legislative object. The courts may . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Litigation Practice
Leading Case
Updated: 10 November 2021; Ref: scu.237250