ABSTRACT
Summary judgment procedure1 is appropriate for obtaining judgment against a defendant who has no arguable defence to a claim or part of a claim included in the writ, notwithstanding that a defence may have been filed and served. The purpose of summary judgment proceedings is ‘to provide early judgment in those cases in which the defendant has no hope of success, and any defence raised will merely have the effect of delaying judgment’.2 However, where the defendant shows that he has reasonable grounds for setting up a defence, or even a fair probability that he has a bona fide defence, he ought to be given leave to defend.3 Summary judgment is given mainly in straightforward debt actions, where the defendant clearly has no defence. It is not usually appropriate for negligence and personal injuries claims, as in such cases the defendant will nearly always be able to put forward some arguable defence, albeit that it ultimately fails.
