The Court of Appeal has rejected David Wright’s application to reopen its decision upholding summary judgment of €1,742,842.27 in favour of Launceston Property Finance Designated Activity Company.
The ruling, delivered on 3 June 2020, concerned Mr Wright’s motion to review a substantive judgment delivered on 18 December 2019. That earlier judgment had affirmed a 2017 High Court decision granting Launceston summary judgment for €1,742,842.27 and sending the balance of its claim to a plenary hearing.
Mr Wright raised numerous grounds, including alleged errors in the debt and interest calculations, the treatment of rent from secured properties, the transfer of the loan, and the use of summary procedure. He also argued that the court had not addressed all his submissions and relied on two letters received after the appeal hearing. The court described these as attempts to revisit the merits or advance arguments that could have been made at the appeal.
The Court of Appeal said its power to review a final judgment was exceptional and required a fundamental issue concerning a denial of constitutional justice. It concluded that Mr Wright had not met that threshold. It said courts need not address every point advanced by a party, and that new evidence discovered after judgment was not a basis to reopen the decision. The court also said the sums in the August 2019 letter about interest overcharges could not affect the amount due under the judgment.
The court rejected the application to revisit the substantive judgment. Separately, it directed two corrections under the Slip Rule, which it said had no bearing on the outcome. A reference to €297 was to be corrected to €299.27. The words “and it is not controverted” in the earlier judgment’s account of rental income were to be replaced with wording recording that Mr Wright had disputed the point in an affidavit dated 24 May 2017.