GUERNSEY Law and Practice Contributed by: Elaine Gray and Steven Balmer, Carey Olsen
4. Pre-trial Proceedings 4.1 Interim Applications/Motions
Strike Out The court may exercise its discretion to strike out a pleading where it appears to the court that the pleading discloses no reasonable grounds for bringing or defending the action or is an abuse of the court’s process or there has been a failure to comply with the court’s process. Although there is no specific provision dictating how an application to strike out should be pro- gressed, in practice an application under Rule 52 should be supported by an affidavit outlining the abuse of process or failure to comply that is relied on. The relevant test for strike out and summary judgment is well established in Guern- sey, and the court has again recently noted the high hurdle faced by such an application. 4.3 Dispositive Motions The most common dispositive applications are for summary judgment or to have the claim (or part of the claim) struck out (see 4.2 Early Judg- ment Applications). The court may also be willing to have a trial of a preliminary issue (effectively a form of summary judgment) where this would dispose of all or a substantial part of a case. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit Intervention Where a third party considers that they are a nec- essary or proper party to proceedings, they may apply to intervene in the proceedings. The court will only permit a person to intervene where sat- isfied that they are indeed a necessary or proper party. For example, where a beneficiary’s inter- ests are represented by a trustee, the court may refuse an application for joinder by a beneficiary unless the beneficiary can point to some other factor justifying their separate involvement.
It is possible to make interim applications before the trial or substantive hearings in a claim and such applications are frequently made. Appli- cations range from case management matters, such as further and better particulars or disclo- sure, to standalone substantive issues, such as strike out, hearings of preliminary issues or interim injunctions. 4.2 Early Judgment Applications Guernsey’s court rules contain provisions ena- bling early judgment applications. In particular, an application can be brought for summary judgment (Royal Court Civil Rules, Rule 20) or to strike out a party’s pleading in whole or in part (Royal Court Civil Rules, Rule 52). Summary Judgment The Rules permit the court to give summary judgment at any time after the pleadings have closed, where the court is satisfied that the other party has no real prospect of succeeding on the claim or defence and there is no other compel- ling reason why the claim should be disposed of at a trial. An application needs to be served on the defendant a minimum of four clear days before the application is to be heard. It must be sup- ported by an affidavit that sets out the effect of the application, if successful. The affidavit should also identify concisely any point of law or any provision of a document on which the appli- cant relies. It should state that the application is made because, on the evidence, the applicant believes the respondent has no real prospect of succeeding and, further, that the applicant is not aware of any other reason why the case must be disposed of at a trial.
531 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook