Jiang v Han (No 5)

The case of Jiang v Han involved a dispute between the plaintiff, Jiang, and the defendant, Han. The plaintiff sought a judgment against the defendant for damages and costs on an indemnity basis, following a hearing where the defendant failed to appear and no satisfactory explanation was provided for their absence. The matter was heard in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The primary issue before the court was whether the defendant's application to set aside the judgment should be granted. The court also needed to determine whether the funds previously paid into court should be transferred to the plaintiff.

The court carefully considered the circumstances of the case, particularly the defendant's failure to appear at the hearing and the absence of a satisfactory explanation for this. The court noted that the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) provide that a party who fails to appear at a hearing may have their application to set aside a judgment refused if there is no satisfactory explanation. In this instance, the defendant had not provided any explanation for their absence, and the court was not satisfied that the defendant's application should be granted. The court also considered the plaintiff's application to have the funds previously paid into court transferred to them, which was granted as the plaintiff had obtained judgment for damages and costs on an indemnity basis.