‘On 6 April 2020, a few minor changes to the Civil Procedural Rules (“CPR”) came into effect; amongst them, changes to CPR 12.3, which brought a degree of welcome clarity to an area of conflicting case law. Many lawyers would be forgiven for thinking that, if the claimant issued proceedings and properly filed and served the claim form and particulars of claim and the defendant failed to acknowledge service or file a defence within the times stipulated by CPR 10.3 and 15.3, the claimant would be entitled to judgment in default. However, if, in the intervening period between the claimant’s representative requesting default judgment and judgment being entered (which as we all know can too often be substantial), the defendant files a defence, the court no longer has jurisdiction to enter that default judgment and any such judgment entered must be set aside, under CPR 13.2. This article identifies the key decisions on what now appears to be the settled position; and the effect this may have on how claimants’ and defendants’ representatives should approach ‘late’ acknowledgments of services and defences, particularly in light of the unprecedented disruption caused by COVID-19.’

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Thomas More Chambers, 24th April 2020

Source: www.thomasmore.co.uk