The Court of Appeal held that dismissal of proceedings for want of prosecution was inappropriate where, despite significant delay and past non-compliance with disclosure obligations, the plaintiff had complied with the latest disclosure order and the parties were nearly ready for trial. The Court emphasised that a broad-brush approach to dismissal based on long delay alone is insufficient; there must be an analysis of the actual likely effect of the delay on the fairness of the trial. The principles in Cooper v Hopgood & Ganim were applied, requiring consideration of whether a fair trial remained possible rather than simply punishing delay.
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