Australia, Jan. 11 -- New South Wales Land and Environment Court issued text of the following judgement on Dec. 16:

1. The plaintiff commenced these proceedings with the filing of a statement of claim on 31 March 2024. The pleading seeks repayment of a loan made by the plaintiff to the defendant of $1,100,000 plus interest.

2. According to the statement of claim the loan was made in July 2016 and was to be repaid by 8 July 2018 together with interest at the rate of 10% per annum. The loan has not been repaid nor has any interest payment been made.

3. By a notice of motion filed on 17 October 2024, the plaintiff now seeks default judgment. This motion is supported by an affidavit of Mr George Chen dated 17 October 2024. Mr Chen is one of the two directors of the plaintiff company.

4. The defendant also has a notice of motion, filed on 5 November 2024. The purpose of the defendant's motion is to vacate a freezing order made, by consent, by Button J on 28 June 2024. The order made by Button J was a refinement of previous orders; made by Weinstein J on 31 May 2024 and then Rothman J on 3 June 2024.

5. The defendant's motion is supported by affidavits of Mr Ali Hamam dated 7 June 2024 and 22 November 2024 respectively. Mr Hamam is the sole director of the defendant company. The plaintiff relies on affidavits from Mr Chen dated 31 May 2024 and Ms Xiangye Chen, also dated 31 May 2024. Ms Chen is the plaintiff's solicitor.

6. The orders made by Weinstein J were made on an ex-parte application by the plaintiff. The orders made by Rothman J were made by consent.

7. I will deal with each motion in turn.

The application for default judgment

8. Under the Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (UCPR) r 14.3(1), subject to a different order being made, a defence is to be filed within 28 days of the service of a statement of claim.

9. The statement of claim was served on 23 April 2024. The defendant's solicitors asked for particulars of the statement of claim on 10 May 2024. The request was answered on 27 May 2024.

10. Since 27 May 2024 there has been no further correspondence from the defendant's solicitors concerning the statement of claim or the filing of a defence. A defence has not been filed.

11. UCPR r 16.6 says default judgment may be given for a plaintiff against a defendant on a claim for a liquidated amount provided that the sum sought does not exceed the sum claimed. Interest up to judgment and costs may be included in the judgment.

12. The defendant is in default because it has not served a defence. It has not provided any explanation for not doing so nor explained the delay. To the contrary the submissions filed on behalf of the defendant state:

"The Defendant does not wish to be heard in relation to the Plaintiff's Notice of Motion for Default Judgment filed 17 October 2024, and the Defendant submits to the orders of the Court, save as to costs."

*Rest of the document and Footnotes can be viewed at: (https://www.caselaw.nsw.gov.au/decision/193cdb19dc7e758fa37dfec1)

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