By Barbara Gayle, Staff ReporterTHE COURT of Appeal has thrown out a four-year-old civil case and called on the courts not to help 'recalcitrant' litigants who cause inordinate delays in the litigation of their cases.
In throwing out the civil suit brought by MoBay Undersea Tours Ltd. and Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, which was seeking damages against Port Services Ltd., the court said "the inordinate and inexcusable" delay would cause serious prejudice to the defendant if the case went to trial.
"In this country, the behaviour of litigants, and, in many cases, their attorneys-at-law, in disregarding rules of procedure, has reached what may comfortably be described as epidemic proportions," said Mr. Justice Seymour Panton, one of the three judges who heard the case on Monday.
He said further that "once there is a situation such as exists in this case, the Court should be very reluctant to be seen to be offering a helping hand to the recalcitrant litigant with a view to giving relief from the consequences of the litigant's own deliberate action or inaction."
The plaintiffs had filed a suit on January 26, 1996 in the Supreme Court seeking damages against Port Services Ltd.
They were contending that Port Services Ltd. had negligently handled cargo on the motor vessel Inagua Tania in January 1995, causing them to suffer loss and incur expenses.
After the writ was filed in January 1996, it remained dormant until January 2000 when the plaintiffs filed a summons for extension of time within which to file statement of claim. The writ was not served on the defendant until January 24, 1997. The defendant filed a summons on January 12, 2000 to dismiss the action of want of prosecution.
Mr. Justice Maurice Reckord heard the summonses together and granted the extension to the plaintiffs.
Port Services Ltd. appealed on the basis that the reason for the delay in filing the statement of claim amounted to an abuse. Attorney-at-law Gordon Rob-inson who represented the appellant, argued that the judge should have dismissed the suit for want of prosecution. He argued that the plaintiffs deliberately flouted the rules of court which required the statement of claim to be filed within ten days of the filing of
the writ.
The Court of Appeal comprising the Hon. Ian Forte, President of the Court of Appeal, Mr. Justice Seymour Panton and Mr. Justice Algernon Smith heard the appeal and dismissed the suit for want of prosecution.
