Balance of justice requires that professional negligence proceedings be dismissed

Application to dismiss proceedings for inordinate and inexcusable delay – professional negligence - legal principles governing application to dismiss – balance of justice - real and serious risk of an unfair trial and/or an unjust result - need for expedition in litigation - delay on the part of the Defendants themselves – never delivered a defence – procedural history - chronology of key events – inordinate delay – 14 years – inexcusable delay - cannot rely on ongoing negotiations – balance of justice - where inordinate and inexcusable delay is demonstrated, there has to be a causal connection between that delay and the matters relied on for the purpose of establishing that the balance of justice warrants the dismissal of the claim – proceedings will turn on oral evidence - court is entitled to take judicial notice of the fact that the recollection of witnesses fades over time and that the ability of the witnesses to recall the events of some twenty years ago will be limited – affected the Defendant’s insurance premiums - proceedings are still not ready for hearing - failure of the Defendants to deliver a defence to the proceedings can be characterised as culpable delay - prejudice to the Defendants is so weighty that the balance of justice requires the proceedings to be dismissed notwithstanding their own default in pleading - obligation upon a plaintiff to pursue their claim with reasonable expedition – proceedings dismissed