covid19-law.com.au
5. Civil Procedure
C. Amendments
i. Legislation
As of the last update, we are not aware of any COVID-19 related legislation in this area.
ii. Case law
The impact of COVID-19 may be a relevant consideration for the purpose of determining whether leave should be granted to a party to amend its claim.
In Andrianakis v Uber Technologies (Ruling No 2) [2020] VSC 152, the Supreme Court of Victoria, considered that the possibility of delay, which, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, might arise if an application for leave to file amended pleadings were listed for further oral submissions, was a factor that weighed in favour of the Court simply granting leave to amend (finding that, in the circumstances of that case, further delay in progressing the proceeding was highly undesirable: [26]).
In Lake Macquarie City Council v SCE Resources Pty Ltd trading as Steelstone [2020] NSWSC 279, the NSW Supreme Court, in granting leave to the plaintiff to amend its claim, considered that possible delay arising from the amendment was not itself a reason for refusing leave, in circumstances where the case had not yet been set down for hearing and there were no significant case management implications (adverting to delay arising from the COVID-19 pandemic: [17]).
Similarly, in Veolia Energy Technical Services Pty Ltd v Roads and Maritime Services [2020] NSWSC 328, in circumstances where allowing amendment would have necessitated the defendant putting on further evidence, the NSW Supreme Court held that delay that might be involved in putting on that evidence during the COVID-19 pandemic was not itself basis for refusing leave to amend the relevant pleading ([28]-[29], [35]).
C. Amendments
i. Legislation
As of the last update, we are not aware of any COVID-19 related legislation in this area.
ii. Case law
The impact of COVID-19 may be a relevant consideration for the purpose of determining whether leave should be granted to a party to amend its claim.
In Andrianakis v Uber Technologies (Ruling No 2) [2020] VSC 152, the Supreme Court of Victoria, considered that the possibility of delay, which, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, might arise if an application for leave to file amended pleadings were listed for further oral submissions, was a factor that weighed in favour of the Court simply granting leave to amend (finding that, in the circumstances of that case, further delay in progressing the proceeding was highly undesirable: [26]).
In Lake Macquarie City Council v SCE Resources Pty Ltd trading as Steelstone [2020] NSWSC 279, the NSW Supreme Court, in granting leave to the plaintiff to amend its claim, considered that possible delay arising from the amendment was not itself a reason for refusing leave, in circumstances where the case had not yet been set down for hearing and there were no significant case management implications (adverting to delay arising from the COVID-19 pandemic: [17]).
Similarly, in Veolia Energy Technical Services Pty Ltd v Roads and Maritime Services [2020] NSWSC 328, in circumstances where allowing amendment would have necessitated the defendant putting on further evidence, the NSW Supreme Court held that delay that might be involved in putting on that evidence during the COVID-19 pandemic was not itself basis for refusing leave to amend the relevant pleading ([28]-[29], [35]).
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