The High Court has made two unusual pre-trial orders within the space of a fortnight, indicating that parties ‘need not resign themselves to the cost and delay’ of side issues, barristers Daniel Lightman QC & Stephanie Thompson, of Serle Court, write in this week’s NLJ
In the lawsuit brought by the Duchess of Sussex against the Mail on Sunday for publishing a letter she wrote to her father, Mr Justice Warby agreed to strike out a number of allegations as they were not relevant to the Duchess’s case and would be likely to obstruct the just disposal of the proceedings.
A judge in a property dispute took a similarly ‘interventionist’ approach to case management, striking out several allegations.
Lightman & Thompson offer practical advice to litigators who may find themselves in a similar situation.
They conclude: ‘The court’s powers to exclude issues from consideration and limit evidence and cross-examination can have real teeth.’
Read the article in full here.
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