| (1) |
The Enforcement Committee may, of its own initiative or on the application of a party, give default judgment without a hearing of the case where— |
| (a) |
the respondent has not filed an acknowledgment of service; or |
| (b) |
the respondent has not filed a defence to the claim or any part of the claim. |
| (2) |
A default judgment may not be given if the respondent has made an application— |
| (a) |
disputing the Enforcement Committee’s jurisdiction; |
| (b) |
to have the case struck out under sub-rule 11 of Schedule 1; or |
| (c) |
for summary judgment under sub-rule 22 of Schedule 1, and that application has not been disposed of. |
| (3) |
Where the notice has been served on the respondent in accordance with the directions of the registrar, the applicant may not obtain default judgment unless the applicant has complied with any directions concerning proof of service. |
| (4) |
A default judgment given under this regulation shall be— |
| (a) |
such judgment as it appears to the Enforcement Committee that the applicant is entitled to on the notice; |
| (b) |
for an amount to be decided by the Enforcement Committee as to the fine, costs and interest or for such other relief to be decided by the Enforcement Committee in accordance with any directions it may give for the determination of those matters. |
| (5) |
A default judgment may be given against one of two or more respondents and the applicant may proceed against the other respondents. |
| (6) |
The Enforcement Committee may only give a default judgment against one of two or more respondents in accordance with sub-rule 21 (5) of Schedule 1 if it is satisfied that the case against that respondent can be dealt with separately from the case against the other respondents. |
| (7) |
The Enforcement Committee shall set aside a default judgment if the judgment was wrongly entered because any of the conditions set out in sub-rule 21 (1) of Schedule 1 were not satisfied. |
| (8) |
In any other case, the Enforcement Committee may set aside or vary a default judgment (and attach any conditions it may think fit) if— |
| (a) |
the respondent has a real prospect of defending the case; or |
| (b) |
it appears to the Enforcement Committee that there is some other good reason why— |
| (i) |
the judgment should be set aside or varied; or |
| (ii) |
the respondent should be allowed to defend the case; |
| (9) |
In considering whether to set aside or vary a default judgment under sub-rule 21 (8)(b) of Schedule 1, the matters to which the Enforcement Committee shall have regard include whether the person seeking to set aside the judgment made an application to do so promptly. |
| (a) |
the applicant claimed a remedy in addition to a fine; |
| (b) |
the applicant has abandoned its claim for that remedy in order to apply for default judgment; and |
| (c) |
the default judgment is set aside; |
the abandoned claim is restored when the default judgment is set aside.
Mental Health Care Act, 2002
