Pitts v Hartman & Ors

An application to set aside a procedural order is determined by reference to the matter properly before the court. Where the applicant accepts that there is little point pursuing the relevant underlying aspect of the proceedings, and no other matter is listed, the Court of Appeal may dismiss the application without considering unrelated aspects of the litigation.

Pitts v Hartman & Ors concerned an application to set aside a directions order made by Master Venne. The order provided that, unless the applicant filed bundles in proper form at the Civil Appeals Office within 14 days, his application for permission to appeal would be dismissed. The proposed appeal related to Sullivan J’s refusal to set aside an earlier decision of Gibbs J. Before the Court of Appeal, the applicant accepted that there was little point pursuing the aspect concerning the then fourth defendant. The issue was whether Master Venne’s order should be set aside.

1. Application dismissed. The applicant sought to set aside Master Venne’s order requiring properly prepared bundles within 14 days, failing which his application for permission to appeal would be dismissed.
2. The underlying proceedings included Sullivan J’s decision declining to set aside an earlier decision of Gibbs J. The applicant told the court that, so far as pursuing the action against the then fourth defendant was concerned, he accepted that there was little point taking the matter further.
3. Lord Justice Kay stated that, in those circumstances, the court could do no more than dismiss the application to set aside Master Venne’s decision. The court was not entitled to consider other aspects of the proceedings because no other matter was listed before it and it was in no position to determine them.
4. The application was therefore dismissed. No other aspect of the proceedings was determined.

• Court of Appeal (Civil Division): The application to set aside Master Venne’s directions order was dismissed.
• Master Venne: Ordered that the application for permission to appeal would be dismissed unless properly prepared bundles were filed within 14 days.
• Sullivan J: Declined to set aside the earlier decision of Gibbs J.
• Gibbs J: Made the earlier decision referred to in the judgment.