The Court Process And The Tender Process

First published in Construction Law International in March 2008

The process of the Court

Towards the end of 2007, the English Court of Appeal produced an important decision dealing with an attempt to strike out a claim for abuse of the process of the Court on the basis that the claim could and should have been brought in previous litigation. The judgments in Aldi Stores Limited v WSP Group Limited and Aspinwall & Company Limited [2007]EWCA Civ 1260 show that, in an appropriate case, a party may choose to pursue its claim separately from multi-party litigation which it could join. However, the ever-increasing case management role of the Court was also underlined and the ultimate decision of whether a claim should be pursued separately or with other litigation may in future be one for the Court rather than the Claimant.