Ruiz-Diaz v Aroyan and Ruiz-Diaz v Antal

The applicants in both Ruiz-Diaz v Aroyan and Ruiz-Diaz v Antal sought leave to extend the time for filing a statement of claim pursuant to section 109 of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999. The applicants, Ruiz-Diaz, were involved in separate motor accidents with the respondents, Aroyan and Antal, and sought compensation for the injuries sustained. The applicants had initially missed the statutory deadline for filing their statements of claim and were required to seek leave from the court to extend the time for filing.

The primary legal issues before the court were whether the applicants had demonstrated a real chance of meeting the statutory threshold required by section 109(3)(b) of the Act and, if so, whether the respondents had contested the application on a wholly unreasonable basis, warranting an award of costs. The court had to consider the applicants' evidence and arguments as to why they had not filed their statements of claim within the prescribed time and whether their delay was justified.

The court found that the applicants had demonstrated a real chance of meeting the statutory threshold for leave to extend time, as they had provided evidence of delays in obtaining medical reports and the complexity of their injuries. The court noted that the applicants' delay in filing the statements of claim was not entirely due to their own fault, as they had encountered difficulties in obtaining necessary medical information. The court also found that the respondents had contested the application on a wholly unreasonable basis, as they had not provided any substantive argument against the applicants' case for an extension of time. The court exercised its discretion to award costs to the applicants on the ordinary basis, reflecting the unreasonableness of the respondents' contestation.

The orders of the court granted the applicants leave to file their statements of claim by a specified date, required that the cases be heard together at trial, directed the respondents to pay the applicants' costs of the summons on the ordinary basis, and allowed the exhibits to be returned.