The court considered an application for an interim award of damages.
Held: Lloyd LJ said: ‘Something more than a prima facie case is clearly required; but not proved beyond reasonable doubt. The burden is high. But it is a civil burden on the balance of probabilities, not a criminal burden.’ The court is not required to be sure in the sense of being satisfied beyond reasonable doubt and being able to exclude every possibility of failure because the order for interim payment may be reversed at trial.
Rules 11 and 12 of Order 29 should be read together to permit the court to make an order for interim payment where it is satisfied that, if the action proceeded to trial, the plaintiff would obtain judgment either for substantial damages under r.11(1)(c) or for substantial sum of money apart from damages within r.12, even though thought not to be certain which
Lloyd, Nichols LJJ
[1987] 1 WLR 480
England and Wales
Updated: 01 September 2021; Ref: scu.510790
