GONG & YEE

The applicant, Gong, sought to set aside a default judgment entered against him in favour of the respondent, Yee. The dispute concerned a debt owed by Gong to Yee, and the application to set aside the default judgment was heard by Judge Harland.

The primary legal issue before the court was whether Gong had established sufficient grounds to warrant setting aside the default judgment. This required the court to consider whether Gong had a meritorious defence to the claim and whether he had provided a satisfactory explanation for his failure to file a defence within the prescribed time.

Judge Harland dismissed Gong's application, finding that he had failed to demonstrate either a meritorious defence or a sufficient explanation for his delay. The court applied the principles governing applications to set aside default judgments, which generally require a party to show a real prospect of success in the substantive proceedings and a reasonable excuse for their non-compliance with court rules. Gong's submissions did not meet this threshold.

Consequently, the court ordered that Gong's application be dismissed and that he file any submissions in response to Yee's application for costs within 14 days.