Tucker v Hamilton Properties Ltd
In a ruling handed down just before Christmas, Justice Shade
Subair Williams struck out a Statement of Claim for abuse of
process and dismissed the civil proceedings for want of prosecution
because of litigation delay caused by the
plaintiff.1
In 2017, Subair WilliamsJ had granted the plaintiff leave to
amend his pleadings,2 yet by the time the defendant
brought its strike-out application in 2025 he still had not amended
his Statement of Claim despite knowing that the proceedings could
not progress until he amended.3
In making her December 2025 ruling, Subair WilliamsJ was unable
to find that the delay caused by the plaintiff was deliberate
and/or absent of any sincere intention to pursue the claim and
bring the proceedings to completion. She did, however, hold that
the plaintiff's failure to amend his pleadings blatantly
disregarded her 2017 order, and that the plaintiff had thereby
knowingly caused the delay. Subair WilliamsJ
