Crane v The State of Western Australia

The appeal was brought before the court by Crane against the State of Western Australia. The appellant sought to overturn an order that had set aside a default judgment that had been entered against the respondent. The appellant had entered the default judgment after the respondent failed to file a defence within the prescribed time. The crux of the appeal was whether the judgment was valid when more than a year had passed since the last proceeding in the action, as per the Rules of the Supreme Court 1971 (WA), Order 3 Rule 7. The appellant contended that the default judgment was valid, while the respondent argued that the court did not have the jurisdiction to enter the judgment as it had been more than a year since the last proceeding in the action.

The court examined the definition of 'last proceeding in an action' under the rules and considered the circumstances in which the default judgment was entered. The court held that the last proceeding in the action was the filing of the statement of claim, and that the year-long period had not elapsed when the default judgment was entered. The court concluded that the default judgment was valid and dismissed the appeal. The court found that the appeal was without merit as the default judgment was correctly entered and the respondent had failed to file a defence within the required time.

The appeal was dismissed with the court ordering the appellant to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal. The court held that the appeal was frivolous and brought for an improper purpose. The court noted that the respondent had incurred significant costs in defending the appeal, and that the appellant had no reasonable prospects of success. The court ordered the appellant to pay the respondent's costs of the appeal on an indemnity basis, which means that the appellant is liable for all the costs incurred by the respondent in bringing and defending the appeal.