Even in an Order 14 application, the court will, on suitable occasions, be prepared to decide complicated and difficult questions of law.
Lord Donaldson MR said: ‘If a judge is satisfied that there are no issues of fact between the parties, it would be pointless for him to give leave to defend on the basis that there was a triable issue of law. The only result would be that another judge would have to consider the same arguments and decide that issue one way or another. Even if the issue of law is complex and highly arguable, it is far better if he then and there decides it himself, entering judgment for the plaintiff or the defendant as the case may be on the basis of his decision. The parties are then free to take the matter straight to this court, if so advised. This was the situation in the classic case of Cow v Casey [1949] 1 All ER 197, [1949] 1 KB 474. But it is quite different if the issue of law is not decisive of all the issues between the parties or, if decisive of part of the plaintiff’s claim or some of those issues, is of such a character as would not justify its being determined as a preliminary point, because little or no savings in costs would ensure. It is an a fortiori case if the answer to the question of law is in any way dependent on undecided issues of fact.’
Judges:
Lord Donaldson MR, Stocker and Woolf LJJ
Citations:
[1990] 1 WLR 578, [1990] 2 All ER 209
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – GL Baker Ltd v Medway Building and Supplies Ltd CA 11-Jan-1958
A claim was made by a company to recover money entrusted to its auditor who fraudulently had paid away some of it to a company of which he was a director. Amendments of pleadings for the purpose of determining the real question in controversy . .
Cited by:
Cited – Williams v Central Bank of Nigeria QBD 8-Apr-2011
The claimant had been defrauded by a customer of the defendant bank. He brought a claim against the bank, saying that they knew or ought to have known of the fraudster’s activities, and were liable. The Bank denied that the UK courts had . .
Cited – Williams v Central Bank of Nigeria QBD 24-Jan-2012
The claimant asserted involvement by the defendant bank in a fraud perpetrated against him. Jurisdiction had already been admitted for one trust , and now the claimant sought to add two further claims.
Held: ‘None of the gateways to English . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Litigation Practice
Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.537031