Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Default judgment definition

What does Default judgment mean? In civil litigation, a default judgment is a court order deciding a claim without a trial because the defendant has not responded in time—typically by failing to file an acknowledgment of service or a defence after valid service. In England and Wales, this is governed by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) Part 12, with applications to set aside or vary under CPR Part 13 where the judgment was irregularly entered or the defendant shows a real prospect of successfully defending the claim or another good reason. In Northern Ireland, comparable provisions exist in the Rules of the...

When a default judgment must be set aside (CPR 13.2, England and Wales): mandatory grounds, CPR 12.3 conditions, and common service/filing arguments

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Practice notes

If a Default judgment has been entered against a defendant in error, the court is required to set it aside. CPR 13.2 specifies mandatory grounds; where these apply, the court has no discretion and must Set aside the default judgment, regardless of the strength of any proposed defence. This Practice Note clarifies when the court is compelled to act and considers frequent arguments raised by defendants asserting that a default judgment must be set aside on mandatory grounds.

For alternative, discretionary bases, see Practice Note: Setting aside default judgment—discretionary grounds (CPR 13.3).
For the procedure to apply, see Practice Note: Setting aside default judgment—making the application.
For an overview of what constitutes a default judgment, see Practice Note: Obtaining default judgment—General Principles.

What are the mandatory grounds for setting aside default judgment?

CPR 13.2 provides that the court must set aside a default judgment if the judgment was ‘wrongly entered’...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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