What happens when parties don't play by the rules? James Weale reports
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A regrettable but all too common feature of modern litigation is the willingness of parties to frustrate the court's process through a combination of perjury and the suppression and forgery of documents. A strike-out application by the innocent party may be seen as an attractive shortcut to dispose of the other side's case in these circumstances. The unanimous decision of the Court of Appeal in Dadourian Group International v Simms and Ors [2009] EWCA Civ 169, [2009] All ER (D) 175 (Mar), however, demonstrates considerable reluctance on the part of the court to entertain such applications.
Dadourian is the first case in which the Court of Appeal considered its jurisdiction to strike out an appeal notice solely on the basis of subversive conduct on the part of the appellant. The case is also significant for its restrictive interpretation of Arrow Nominees Inc v Blackledge [2001] BCC 591, [2000] All ER (D) 854 in relation to the court's inherent strike-out jurisdiction.
This appeal was the latest stage in a protracted
