ENGLAND & WALES Law and Practice Contributed by: Damian Taylor, Olga Ladrowska, Lawal Ijaodola and Eleanor Higginson, Slaughter and May
cation can be made at any stage of the proceed- ings, it should be brought as early as possible; the court may exercise its discretion to refuse an application if it is made too late in the litigation process. See also 3.6 Failure to Respond for an explana- tion on obtaining default judgment. 4.3 Dispositive Motions As set out in 4.2 Early Judgment Applications , summary judgment, strike-out and default judgment applications are common dispositive motions made before trial. Where the defendant considers that England and Wales is not the appropriate forum to hear a claim, it can apply to challenge the court’s jurisdiction. Litigants may also apply for a preliminary issue hearing, in which a specific issue of law and/or fact is resolved prior to the main trial, to assist the court in handling the proceedings in a just and efficient manner. Litigants may apply for a preliminary issue hearing, or the court may order one of its own initiative under its broad case management powers. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit A person not originally named as a claimant or defendant may be joined to an existing claim if it can be shown that it is desirable to add the new party so that the court can resolve all the matters in dispute, or that there is an issue involving the new party and an existing litigant which is con- nected to the matters in dispute and it is desir- able to add the new party so that the court can resolve that issue. An application to the court, supported by evidence, must be made by either
an existing litigant or the interested person seek- ing to be joined to the proceedings. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs A defendant can obtain an order of security for costs against the claimant or, in certain circum- stances, a third party if it can demonstrate that one of the specified grounds set out in the pro- cedural rules applies and the court is satisfied that, having regard to all the circumstances of the case, it is just to make such an order. Speci- fied grounds include where: • the claimant is resident outside the jurisdic- tion (but not resident in a state bound by the Hague Convention 2005); • the claimant is a company and there is reason to believe that it will be unable to pay the defendant’s costs if ordered to do so; or • the claimant has taken steps in relation to its assets that would make it difficult to enforce an order for costs against it. Security for costs applications can only be made during court proceedings, not prior to formal proceedings being initiated. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/ Motions The court has broad discretion as to whether costs of interim applications are payable, the amount of those costs and when they are to be paid. Costs orders might be made following the deter- mination of an interim application, depending on the circumstances of the case. The general rule is that the court will make a summary assess- ment of costs at the conclusion of a hearing last- ing not more than one day using the statement of costs filed and exchanged by the litigants
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