The Toluca - Q.B.D. (Adm.Ct.) (Sheen J.) - 15 May 1981

Collision action - Delay in bringing proceedings - Status of preliminary acts

Mr. Justice Sheen has emphasized the importance of bringing actions to trial with the minimum delay. In this action, the trial took place seven years after the collision had occurred. Although as a general rule oral evidence tested by cross-examination is preferable to evidence contained in signed statements, in the circumstances of the present case the long delay meant that much of the oral evidence was unreliable. The plaintiffs succeeded in the action but they had to pay the costs of two witnesses who had been brought from Thailand and whose evidence the judge had totally disregarded.