The High Court has refused an application by Arnaud Gaultier to revisit a judgment delivered in his case against the Registrar of Companies Acts, 1963–2009.
In a ruling dated 25 October 2023, Mr Justice Anthony Barr said the court had jurisdiction to revisit a judgment before its final order was perfected, but that power should be used cautiously and only for strong reasons. He was not satisfied that the material put forward by Gaultier met that threshold.
The substantive judgment was delivered on 28 July 2023. The court had invited written submissions on the final order, costs and any other matters. Gaultier then sought an oral hearing on his request to amend the judgment, submitting a copy marked with proposed changes and filing an affidavit sworn on 28 August.
The hearing was listed for 19 October. After a technical problem prevented him from joining remotely in time, the court offered to hear the application a week later, either in person or remotely. Gaultier asked the court to decide the matter on his affidavit, exhibits and emails instead. The court agreed to issue a written ruling.
Among the materials he relied on was a document which he said showed that he had personally served the respondent with a notice of appeal to the Supreme Court in another matter at 4.35pm on 11 April 2023. The judge concluded that the document did not provide strong reasons to revisit the judgment. He also said that dissatisfaction with aspects of the decision was not enough; an appeal to the Court of Appeal was the remedy for a party unhappy with the judgment.
The court refused the request to revisit the substantive judgment. It directed that the final order also provide for the respondent to receive an order in the terms of paragraph one of its notice of motion dated 22 March 2022. The ruling does not set out the terms of that paragraph.
The respondent was awarded the costs of the proceedings, including reserved costs and the costs of written submissions. Those costs are to be adjudicated if the parties do not agree. The costs order is stayed for 28 days; if either party lodges a notice of appeal during that period, the stay continues until the first directions hearing in the Court of Appeal. Each party may obtain a copy of the digital audio recording at their own expense for an appeal.