The Mitchell judgment was no one-off, says Dominic Regan
Never has one decision generated so many more in so short a time. Mitchell v News Group [2013] EWCA Civ 1537, [2014] 1 WLR 795. While the senior judiciary has, as we shall see, utterly accepted the new strict approach to default, I hear many stories of district judges still applying the old approach. Their game is dangerous as appeals are probable. What follows is a snapshot of some of the key authorities that shed further light upon default.
No aberration
More important than anything else is to accept that Mitchell is not an aberration. The Court of Appeal has since affirmed the case twice. In Durrant v Chief Constable of Avon And Somerset Constabulary [2013] EWCA Civ 1624, [2013] All ER (D) 186 (Dec), Lord Justice Richards said: “Equally, however, if the message sent out in Mitchell is not to be undermined, it is vital that decisions under CPR 3.9 which fail to follow the robust approach laid down in that case should not be allowed to
