The High Court has refused an application by Peter Melling to set aside an order allowing Vivien White to enforce in Ireland a 2006 UK employment judgment against him.
In a judgment delivered on 23 January 2018, Ms Justice Faherty declined to vacate an order made by Mr Justice Hedigan on 18 April 2016. That order gave Ms White leave to issue execution on a European Enforcement Order arising from a Guildford County Court judgment. The underlying award was £55,680.80, plus a court fee and costs, with further interest. The 2016 order allowed enforcement to proceed; the application before Ms Justice Faherty concerned whether that order should be set aside.
Mr Melling argued that Ms White had failed to disclose a binding settlement reached in 2013, and that the debt had been partly paid. Ms White denied that any settlement had been agreed. The court also rejected Mr Melling’s attempt to challenge the substance of the original employment judgment in Ireland, finding that any such challenge had to be pursued in the UK courts.
The judge found that an arrangement had been made in March 2013 between Mr Melling and Guardian Recovery Limited, which was seeking payment on Ms White’s behalf. But the judge said the evidence did not establish that the revised terms proposed by Mr Melling’s solicitor in a letter of 16 May 2013 had been accepted by Ms White or by an authorised representative. Ms White had expressly disputed the recovery company’s authority to agree a settlement on her behalf.
A bank draft for £9,737 was sent to Guardian Recovery in September 2013 after a £10,000 cheque was returned. The judge found that payment was not conclusive evidence of a binding settlement. A further £20,000 payment contemplated by the alleged revised terms was not made.
The court was not satisfied that a concluded settlement existed which Ms White was obliged to disclose when she sought leave to execute the judgment. It nevertheless observed that the original application could have set out the post-2008 dealings more fully. In particular, it did not mention the £9,737 payment, and the judge said those dealings might have led the earlier court to put Mr Melling on notice of the application.
However, the settlement issue had since been litigated, and the judge found no binding agreement that justified withdrawing the leave to execute. The application to vacate the 18 April 2016 order was refused.