Khaled El Sayed v Sayed El Hawach (No 2)

In *Khaled El Sayed v Sayed El Hawach (No 2)*, the appellant, Khaled El Sayed, sought to set aside a default judgment entered against him in favour of the respondent, Sayed El Hawach. The application to set aside the default judgment was made some considerable time after the judgment was entered. The matter came before Tobias AJA in the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

The primary legal issue before the Court was whether there were "special circumstances" that warranted setting aside the default judgment. This required the Court to consider the strength of the appellant's proposed defence to the original claim and the reasons for the significant delay in bringing the application. The Court also had to assess whether the appellant's case was inherently weak, which would weigh against granting the relief sought.

Tobias AJA reasoned that the appellant had failed to establish the necessary special circumstances to justify setting aside the default judgment. His Honour found that the appellant's proposed defence was not sufficiently arguable, and that the extensive delay in bringing the application, without adequate explanation, further militated against the exercise of the Court's discretion in his favour. The Court applied the principles governing applications to set aside default judgments, which require a demonstration of both a meritorious defence and a reasonable explanation for any delay.

The amended notice of motion filed on 28 July 2014 was dismissed with costs.