Su Tiang Joo JC:

Query - Under the regime of pre-trial case management where the court no longer left it to the parties to move litigation at their own pace, can the court disallow an agreement to be recorded by way of a consent order for a part of third-party proceedings to be stayed and the effect of which, is likely to impede the resolution of the action as a whole?

Introduction

[1] The Federal court in Syed Omar Syed Mohamed v. Perbadanan Nasional Berhad , [2012] 9 CLJ 557 held that under O 34 of the Rules of High 1980 (and with effect from 1 August 2012, the Rules of 2012 or "ROC") the court no longer left it to the parties to move the litigation at their own pace but assumed the role of setting the time-table for the progress of the case (see para [8] of Syed Omar) and this provided a radical change in approach to the prosecution of a case in court (see para [9] of Syed Omar).

[2]Order 34 ROC contains a non-obstante clause to the effect that notwithstanding anything in the ROC, the court may inter alia at any time after the commencement of proceedings, of its own motion, make such order or give such directions as to the future course of the action as appear best adapted