ABSTRACT
This is a case of a regular judgment signed in default from which the plaintiffs’ rights of property have been established subject to the discretionary power of the court to set that judgment aside. The court is invested with that discretionary power in order to avoid injustice to either the plaintiffs or the defendant. In considering the exercise of its discretion, the court must determine whether the defendant has merit to which the court should pay heed, not as a rule of law but as a matter of common sense. The court will also take into consideration, though not making it a condition precedent, any explanation as to how it came about that the defendant found himself bound by a judgment regularly obtained to which he could have set up some serious defence in proper time. The court must also bear in mind that an applicant seeking to have a regular judgment set aside must do more than show that he has ‘an arguable case’ as the expression is used in relation to RSC Ord 14, as indicating the standard to be met by the defendant seeking leave to defend. The applicant seeking to set aside a judgment regularly obtained must, by potentially credible affidavit evidence, demonstrate a real likelihood that he will succeed.
