Radu v Houston [2006] EWCA Civ 1575, [2006] All ER (D) 295 (Nov):
If an ‘unless order’ is made as part of the first order for security for costs, the period for complying should be generous. The making of an order for security is not intended to be a weapon by which a defendant can
obtain a speedy summary judgment without a trial.
If a court has made an unless order, and even if judgment has been entered as a result of the security having not been paid, if a claimant within a short period of time has come to the court with the right sum, the court should be willing to consider granting relief and setting the judgment aside.
There is no rule about when relief will be granted or about the terms, but in the case of security for costs a judgment following an unless order does not have the character of judgments given on the merits after a trial.