Mearns v Willoughby Community Preschool Inc

The appeal concerned a decision by the Local Court of New South Wales to refuse an application to set aside a default judgment. The applicant, Mearns, sought to have the default judgment, entered in favour of Willoughby Community Preschool Inc, set aside.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the Local Court had erred in refusing to set aside the default judgment. This required the Court to consider the principles governing applications to set aside default judgments, particularly the requirement for a defendant to demonstrate a defence on the merits.

The Court of Appeal affirmed that a party seeking to set aside a default judgment must show a defence that has a real prospect of success. In this instance, the Court found that Mearns had failed to provide sufficient evidence to establish a defence on the merits, and therefore, the Local Court had not erred in its refusal. The appeal was accordingly dismissed.