Substitution after judgment

Dunwoody Sports Marketing v Prescott CA TLR 25 May

CPR rule 19.2(4) provides that the court can order a new party to be substituted for an existing one if the existing party’s interest had passed to the new party, and it was desirable to substitute the new party, so that the court could resolve matters in dispute in the proceedings. The court’s permission was required; the application for permission could be made by an existing party or a person or body who wished to become a party; and where the existing party’s interest had passed, an application for an order for the substitution of a new party could be made without notice, but had to be supported by evidence under rules 19.4(1), 19.4(2) and 19.4(3). There is no Court of Appeal decision on whether a new party can be substituted for an existing party after judgment. It had been doubted whether there was such a power because the power was in relation to ‘matters in dispute in the proceedings’ and there were no such matters following judgment. However, the court held that the power under rule 19.2 in relation to joinder and substitution does exist after judgment, as well as before.