Order permitting enforcement of historic judgment set aside due to failure to explain delay in execution

The Court of Appeal allowed an appeal against two High Court orders that had joined a loan purchaser as co-plaintiff and granted leave to execute a prior judgment originally obtained by a bank against two borrowers. While the Court of Appeal upheld the joinder of the loan purchaser as co-plaintiff, it set aside the order granting leave to issue execution on the judgment, finding that the loan purchaser had failed to provide adequate reasons for the long delay in seeking to enforce the judgment—particularly in the years prior to acquiring the debt. The court clarified the procedural thresholds for leave to execute judgments after six years, holding that a full explanation for the delay from the date of judgment to the application is required even where years have elapsed before an assignment. The case highlights the necessity of accounting for the entire period of non-enforcement, not just the period after a debt sale, when seeking to enforce historic judgments.