Court Strikes Out Claim Served By Email But Suggests Service Rules Should Be Reviewed

In Chehaib v. King's College Hospital NHS Foundation,¹ the High Court of England and Wales dismissed the claimant's application for relief in respect of a claim form that had expired, having been ineffectively served via email without permission. While the master found she was bound by the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and case law to dismiss the application for relief, she suggested that it might be time to review the rules on service of proceedings to allow for service via email without the need for permission.

Background

The claimant had issued proceedings against three defendants for damages for alleged clinical negligence. The claim was issued shortly before expiry of the relevant limitation period, and several extensions of time for service of proceedings were subsequently agreed and approved by the court. When agreeing to the fourth and final extension of time, the second defendant's lawyers stated that they would only accept service of proceedings via post