The Court held that entry of a consent judgment in favour of a settling defendant should be deferred where proceedings are in their infancy, pleadings have not closed, and entry would foreclose a co-defendant's right to seek statutory contribution under s 5(1)(c) of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1946 (NSW). Following Cockatoo Dockyard, the absence of an extant cross-claim for contribution is not decisive against deferral, particularly where the co-defendant has not yet had the opportunity to file a cross-claim in response to an amended pleading. The Court also granted leave to file an amended statement of claim joining additional defendants, holding that references to the settling defendant in the pleading did not constitute re-litigation of the compromised claim.
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