davidallengreen

Ouch!https://twitter.com/JohnApplebyLD/status/1392505431952592898 …

And if anyone thinks that the courts will not be strict on procedural points in respect of Tory ministers... ...Mitchell v News Group Newspapers (Where former Tory minister Andrew Mitchell went down in flames because of non-compliance with the civil procedure rules)

Thread continueshttps://twitter.com/davidallengreen/status/1392500914590785540 …

Note the No 10 spokesperson quote implies that the claim *was* properly served - it was just not dealt with in time So: Johnson's disorganisation is the likely explanation for the CCJ

Unsurprising news - but setting aside not a certainty, given the delay in dealing with an October CCJ BTW - this spot-on wording from the No 10 spokesperson is straight from a lawyer You can tellhttps://twitter.com/bbclaurak/status/1392498565277175808 …

ps2 If a cockup, then it would mean 10 Downing Street/Johnson's office/Johnson missed following correspondence: - letter before claim/final demand - Claim Form from Court - copy of CCJ itself If the latter two slipped through, then serious questions about how post dealt with

Ha ha - highly plausiblehttps://twitter.com/rbrwr/status/1392488158667984897 …

ps A default judgment/CCJ is rarely about being skint - as there are ways of heading off a CCJ even if skint, as long as you deal with the claim promptly So unless this a prank or invalid service, a default CCJ here speaks to disorganisation at Johnson's endhttps://twitter.com/McdowallRose/status/1392486755283132425 …

*Always deal with a letter of claim or claim form promptly - else you too could end up like Boris Johnson with a CCJ* *Always deal with an unexpected CCJ very promptly* - an experienced commercial litigation solicitor 11 & ends

In other words - if the claim was validly served - it may be difficult to impossible for Johnson to get this CCJ set aside Especially if he owed the debt and/or cannot show he acted promptly in applying to set it aside So he could be saddled with it 10.

...Johnson will also have to show he acted 'promptly' (See CPR 13.3(2) https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/rules/part13 …) The CCJ was October. It is now May. Many judges will not say this is 'prompt' 9.

If the claim was validly served, Johnson will have to apply to the court to exercise its discretion to have the CCJ set aside Here he needs to show he had a valid defence (and if he actually owed the money, there is not a valid defence) And... 8.

If the claim never arrived - or there was some other formality/technicality problem about the claim, Johnson can have the CCJ set aside as of right But - and this is the fun bit 7.

A default judgment is *procedural* - it tells you nothing by itself about the merits of a claim Default judgments exist essentially to make sure defendants deal with claims when they arrive 6.

In practice, the common causes of default judgments are (a) the claim never arrived (b) the claim arrived but for various reasons was not dealt with *Always deal with a claim - pro tip* 5.

The claim was issued online - this is is shown by the 'MC' part of the code and the court name The information available indicates that the claim was not defended, as the claim would then have been allocated to an actual court 4.

From available information, it appears likely that this is a 'default judgment' That is (in general terms) a judgment entered against you if you do not put in a defence to a claim issued against you If you get a claim, do nothing, you often end up with a default judgment 3.

The PM - in his private capacity - has this CCJ registered against him Legally, it does not matter that his full name is not used 2.https://twitter.com/peterwalker99/status/1392416320042504197 …

CCJs and the PM - an explanatory thread 1.