Court of Appeal rejects attempt to strike out a claim after
judgment allegedly obtained by fraud
Prior caselaw has established that, where it is alleged that
judgment was obtained by fraud, a fresh action may be brought to
set aside the judgment. In an appropriate case, an appeal may also
be brought seeking to rely on fresh evidence and to obtain an order
for a retrial (see Noble v Owens (Weekly Update 10/10)).
Unless the fraud is admitted, or incontrovertible, the issue of
fraud must be both properly particularised and proved. However, in
this case, the appellant/defendant sought to argue that the Supreme
Court decision in Summers v Fairclough provided an
alternative procedure, namely, an application to strike out the
claim for abuse of process under CPR r3.4.
