Comply with Court Orders
The recent case of United Kingdom Hydrographic Office v Samyung ENC Co Ltd [2026] EWHC 206 (Ch) has highlighted the obvious importance of complying with Court Orders and potential ramifications if they are breached.
Following numerous prior breaches of disclosure orders, an unless order was granted whereby the Defendant’s defence would be struck out and entry of judgment for £61,716,516.09 plus interest and costs, should the Defendant continue with its non-compliance.
The Defendant had breached previous orders in respect of disclosure and applying the Denton test, the judge found that such breaches were significant and serious. There was no good reason for the breach and the Defendant had not provided an explanation, with the judge inferring that the Defendant had chosen not to comply with a potential strategy to try and postpone or stop the case.
On this basis the judge considered that there was a strong case for strike out, and that this was appropriate and proportionate, and even though the case was for an unspecified sum, the Court could enter a money judgment as a consequence of a defence being struck out. Although the judgment sum, if realised, was large, it was observed that a sanction is not disproportionate because the payment in question is significant.
It will be interesting to see if the Defendant has finally complied with its disclosure obligations on the basis of the serious implications if it does not.
