S v Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service & Anor

Where a respondent is an individual who cannot be found, the court may dispense with service of the claim form under CPR 6.16(1). It may also dispense with service of further documents under CPR 6.28. The court must be satisfied on the available evidence that the respondent cannot be found and that dispensing with service is appropriate in the circumstances.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency applied for orders dispensing with service in intended proceedings to recover cash seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The cash had been seized from the second respondent many years earlier. The applicant had been unable to trace him, and relevant records had been destroyed. The respondents did not appear or make representations. The issue was whether the evidence justified dispensing with service of the claim form and subsequent documents.

1. Application granted. The court was satisfied that the second respondent was an individual who could not be found.
2. In those circumstances, it was appropriate to dispense with service of the claim form under CPR 6.16(1).
3. Service of any further document in the intended recovery proceedings was also dispensed with under CPR 6.28.
4. The order completed the proceedings so far as the application was concerned.

Not stated in the judgment.