Based on the balance of justice and convenience, the High Court refused an emergency injunction application to suspend eviction that would interfere with live County Court proceedings
This case involved an emergency without notice injunction application which had been brought by Mr Morgan who was defending the repossession of his family home by a lender with a mortgage secured against it.
On 7 December 2023, the lender successfully obtaining an order for possession for Mr Morgan's home and then later served a warrant for possession on Mr Morgan on 25 January 2024 with an eviction date of 15 February 2024.
Although Mr Morgan understood (having previously done so) that he could have made an application in the County Court to suspend the warrant of possession, he had "lost faith in the County Court" and had instead chosen to apply to the 'highest court in the land". He therefore made an urgent without notice application to the High Court, on the day before the eviction date, to suspend the eviction on the basis that he wished to challenge the legitimacy of the lender's ability to enforce the mortgage.
On hearing Mr Morgan's application, the High Court refused it on the following grounds:
- There were concerns that the application had been made on the afternoon before the execution of the warrant and that no proper attempt had been made to notify the lender of the application. It was therefore determined that the application had not been approached in a procedurally fair way. Mr Morgan had been legally represented throughout the County Court possession proceedings and could have enlisted his legal representatives' help with the application and brought the application to the attention of the lender; and
- The Judge also stated it was wrong in principle to seek to use the High Court to intervene in live County Court proceedings. In particular, the issues Mr Morgan raised before the High Court had been issues previously raised in the County Court proceedings, with the assistance of his lawyers.
This case highlights the importance of following the correct procedures and that courts will not allow individuals to bypass proper protocol in order to frustrate Court decisions or in this case, delay evictions at the last minute.
