No lawyer is no excuse

A recent case in the Court of Appeal has reinforced the Courts’ position that litigants in person must comply with the Civil Procedure Rules and there is nothing which gives them any greater leeway than parties that are legally represented.

In Lakatamia –v- Su [2019] EWCA Civ 1626, the Applicant had delayed filing his Appellant’s Notice for 4 months; however, the Civil Procedure Rules require an Appellant’s Notice to be filed within 21 days of the decision being appealed.  The Appellant applied for an extension of time and accepted that the correct test for whether or not the extension should be granted was the test for relief from sanctions. 

This is a 3 stage test which requires the Court to consider:

  • Whether the breach of the Rule or Order was a serious breach;
  • Whether there was a good reason for the breach; and
  • All the circumstances of the case, to enable it to deal justly with the application. In doing so, the Court must also consider the need for litigation to be conducted efficiently and at proportionate cost, and the need to enforce compliance with Rules and Orders.

In this case it was not disputed that the breach was a serious one.  The Applicant gave 2 reasons for the breach.  First, he had parted ways with his solicitors, and secondly, he had had some difficulty putting together the Court fee for the appeal, which was £1,199.  The Court held that neither reason was good enough to justify relief from sanctions.  A lack of legal representation was not a good reason for the delay, and there was no explanation given as to the efforts which the Applicant had gone to in order to try and raise the funds for the Court fee. 

The Court of Appeal applied the third stage of the test and found that the prospects of the appeal succeeding were extremely weak and therefore that there was no basis upon which to grant relief from sanctions.  The application was therefore dismissed.

This case serves as a reminder that litigants in person must comply with the Court Rules and will not be given concessions for breaching those rules just because they are not legally represented.  

For further information on the Court Rules and the sanctions that may be imposed for non-compliance, please contact Jennifer Beatty on 0161 819 4911 or at jbe@nexussolicitors.co.uk.

Any and all information on this website is general information and is not legal or other advice. Nexus Solicitors Limited is not responsible for any loss which may arise from relying on the information on this site.