Bernard Pressman considers the Supreme Court’s take on retrospective orders in relation to service
In Abela & Others v Baadarani [2013] UKSC 44; [2013] All ER (D) 249 (Jun), the Supreme Court considered the circumstances in which a court may make an order retrospectively, declaring that steps taken by a claimant to bring a claim form to the attention of a defendant should be treated as good service.
The facts
In April 2009, Mr Abela brought a claim for damages for fraud against Mr Baadarani in connection with a contract to purchase shares in an Italian company (Gama SpA) that were either worthless, or were worth significantly less than the purchase price. The contract expressly provided that it was governed by English law and contained a non-exclusive English jurisdiction clause.
In September 2009, Abela was granted permission to serve the claim form and other documents upon Baadarani at an address in Beirut, Lebanon. The time for service of the claim form was extended to 31 December 2009 and Abela was given permission to serve Baadarani personally. After four consecutive days of attempted
