Gopal Sri Ram JCA:

This is a case in which the learned judge of the High Court set aside a judgment entered in default of appearance. The facts of immediate relevance to the entry of the judgment are but brief.

On 8 March 1997, the plaintiff (the appellant before us) purportedly served a writ on the defendant (the respondent in the appeal). No appearance was entered. A certificate of non-appearance was then filed. The plaintiff, acting under RHC O. 13 r. 6, took out a summons for judgment. This is because the foot of the writ carried a prayer for specific relief that fell outside those heads of claim in respect of which an ex partejudgment form may be filed in the usual way. In due course, judgment on the summons in default of appearance was entered against the defendant. Later, the defendant applied to set aside the judgment and the judge acceded to that application. The plaintiff then appealed to us.

The defendant relied on a number of grounds in support of its application to set aside the judgment in question. Some of these were procedural in nature and some substantive. The learned judge does not appear to have considered the substantive merits of the defendant's case