Miller v Devren Pty Ltd

Miller, the applicant, sought to set aside a default judgment entered against Devren Pty Ltd, the respondent, in the Magistrates Court of Queensland. The dispute concerned a claim by Devren for unpaid rent and damages arising from a lease agreement. Devren had obtained default judgment after Miller failed to file a defence within the prescribed time. Miller sought to have this judgment set aside on the grounds that the default judgment was irregular and that he had a meritorious defence.

The primary legal issue before Judge Jarrett was whether the default judgment entered by the respondent was irregular. This required the court to consider whether the respondent had complied with the procedural requirements for entering default judgment, particularly in relation to service of the originating process and the subsequent steps taken to obtain the judgment. A secondary issue, if the judgment was not irregular, was whether the applicant had demonstrated sufficient grounds to set aside the judgment, including the existence of a meritorious defence.

Judge Jarrett found that the default judgment was irregular because the respondent had failed to properly serve the originating process on the applicant. The evidence indicated that the process server had not made reasonable efforts to serve the applicant at his usual or last known place of abode or business, and had instead served the documents on a person who was not authorised to accept service. As the default judgment was irregular, it was a nullity and therefore liable to be set aside as of right, without the need for the applicant to demonstrate a meritorious defence.

The court ordered that the default judgment entered in favour of Devren Pty Ltd be set aside.