Supreme Court Clarifies When the English Court May Re-Consider a Judgment and/or Order That Has Not Yet Been Sealed

11 July 2022
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Key takeaways:
  • The task of a judge faced with an application to re-consider a judgment and order before the order has been sealed is to do justice in accordance with the Overriding Objective under the Civil Procedure Rules, which includes the finality principle.
  • The Court will consider whether the factors favouring re-opening the judgment and unsealed order are, in combination, sufficient to overcome the finality principle, together with any other factors in favour of leaving the judgment and order in place.
  • The Court will give significant weight to the finality principle in the exercise of its discretion. Therefore, strong factors will need to be present in order for the Court to re-open its judgment and order.