Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Default costs certificates: setting aside is relief from sanctions; Denton and FXF applied; CPR 47.8 on late commencement and CPR 3.10 procedural cure clarified (England and Wales)

Published on: 07 March 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Dispute Resolution expert

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Article summary

Willis v GWB Harthills LLP and others [2024] Lexis Citation 187

What are the practical implications of this case?

This judgment is best read alongside the binding Court of Appeal decision in FXF, as together they clarify the rules and principles governing applications to set-aside judgments or default costs certificates. Until these rulings, there was real doubt about whether CPR 3.9 was engaged and—as the Court of Appeal remarked in FXF—authorities appeared to support both sides of the argument. That uncertainty is readily explained: nowhere do the rules expressly label a default costs certificate as a ‘sanction’, and CPR PD 47, para 11(2)—which specifies the matters the court must consider—does not mention the CPR 3.9 criteria. The effect of Willis is to settle the position: applications to set-aside default costs certificates are to be treated as applications for relief from sanctions. Read together, Willis and FXF provide welcome guidance on the applicable framework and remove ambiguity over the correct procedural route for challenging default costs certificates under the CPR...

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