This week we have received an application for summary judgment from a Claimant despite the fact that the case was suitable for allocation to the Small Claims Track.
The grounds of the application under CPR 24 is that the Defendant has no real prospect of defending the claim. A bold statement to make at the best of times, not least on the facts of the case, which seeks to pre-empt and to some degree circumvent the Judgment of the Court.
Sensibly and entirely properly the Judge that considered the application on the papers allocated the case to the Small Claims Track and listed the matter for a Small Claims Hearing at which time the application for Summary Judgment will also be considered.
However, in the interests of justice, it is more likely than not that the Court will dispose of the matter in the usual way by way of a full hearing once all the evidence and the parties are before it and we anticipate that the Claimants application for summary judgment will ultimately prove ineffective.
Perhaps the Claimants solicitors will see some benefit from the application after all in terms of fee income!
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