Cases

Hughes v Alan Dick & Co Ltd

Held

(1) The default judgment would be set aside. There was a realistic prospect of success on the basis of absolute privilege, qualified privilege and/or justification, and D had acted with appropriate speed such that there was no reason for the court to exercise its discretion against D. Further, C's failure to serve a response pack with the claim form and the resulting confusion on the part of D’s employees was a “good reason" within r.13.3.1(b) to set the judgment aside;

(2) Although the claim plainly had significant hurdles to overcome and publication was on a very limited scale, it related to a serious allegation for which C was entitled to seek a remedy and therefore could not be said to amount to an abuse of process;

(3) C came "nowhere near" discharging the relevant burden. It could not be said that malice was bound to succeed.

Also