Mar 2014
BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
COURT OF APPEAL
CIVIL APPEAL – COMMERCIAL LAW – INTERLOCUTORY APPEAL – RULE 13.3 OF THE CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES 2000 – SETTING ASIDE A DEFAULT JUDGMENT
This was an appeal by Sylmord Trade Inc (the “Appellant”) against the decision of the Learned Commercial Judge to dismiss its application to set aside judgment in default which was entered for Inteco Beteiligungs AG (the “Respondent”) against the Appellant. The grounds of the appeal were that the Judge erred in (1) deciding that the Appellant had not advanced a good explanation for its failure to acknowledge service; (2) holding that the Appellant did not have real prospects of successfully defending the claim; and (3) finding that the commencement of proceedings in breach of contract, and an express provision which provided for arbitration, was not itself a sufficient reason to set aside the default judgment. The appeal was dismissed. The Court of Appeal’s determination in relation to grounds 1 and 3 are the most important.