When COVID-19 May Be A Sufficient Reason For Non-Compliance With The CPR

In the recent case of Daly and another v Ryan and another, the Court considered whether non-compliance with CPR 3.6 could be allowed when the alleged reason for non-compliance was because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Daly and another v Ryan and another

In this case, the claimants had obtained a judgment against the defendants which the defendants later sought to set aside in accordance with CPR 3.6. The defendants, however, failed to file evidence in support of their application within the time limits ordered by the Court. The Court rightfully refused to accept the application.

This left the defendant with no choice but to apply for relief from sanction in order to file evidence in support of the application. The defendants raised the argument that they failed to comply within the time limits ordered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which meant the first defendant had been self-isolating.

The defendants’ argument in light of COVID-19 was poorly presented. The defendant did not rely on any witness evidence confirming the pandemics impact in this specific case and simply pleaded relief from sanctions because of the pandemic and the first defendant having to isolate. The Court refused this as being sufficient to allow relief from sanction and held the mention of the pandemic alone cannot be a good reason to allow relief from sanction. The defendants’ lack of explanation of the specific impact of the pandemic on this case was particularly noted.

Comment

Whilst in this case an argument for relief from sanction due to COVID-19 was not accepted, it does not mean all cases with the same reason will fail. If an individual can provide detailed evidence as to how the pandemic has effected them and prevented them from acting, it is likely the Court will consider it and, if reasonable, will allow such argument to succeed. It is expected each case will be dealt with on an individual basis.

This makes it clear that moving forward, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a blanket excuse will not be readily and simply accepted. Like all other applications for relief from sanction, the party should set out specifically the reason for non-compliance and only if this is reasonable will it be accepted by the Court.