Summary Judgment

To avoid a trial (there will still be a court hearing) you can apply to enter Summary Judgment against your opponent. If:

1. He is a claimant and has no real prospect of succeeding with the claim he has brought or the issues, or

2. He is a defendant and has no real prospect of successfully defending the claim or issue, and

3. There is no other reason why the case or issue should be decided by a trial.

To apply for "Summary Judgment" you should obtain an "Application Notice" Form from the court and this should be supported by a "Statement" and sent to the court. In the Statement you should set out the reasons why you think summary judgment should be given and that you are making it for one of the reasons given above. You must serve a copy of this statement on your opponent 7 days before the summary judgment hearing.

Your opponent can also produce a statement, this must be sent to you 3 days before the hearing.

You can draft your own statement using the same layout for the heading as the Particulars of Claim.

If you are a claimant you cannot apply for summary judgment until your opponent has either returned an acknowledgment of service form or has filed a defence, unless the court gives you permission to apply.

If the court agrees with you they will give Judgment in the case to you, or strike out your opponent's claim, or make a conditional order that your opponent pays a sum of money into court as a condition of the case proceeding, or takes a particular step in the action. If the court does not agree with you your application will be dismissed.

The court can decide to give summary judgment even where you or your opponent do not apply for it.

The court cannot give summary judgment in cases involving possession of residential premises or shipping cases.

If you want to know how to set out a Statement see Case Examples

You may have to pay a court fee

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