INSTRUCTIONS TO SOLICITORS

The plaintiffs are spouses. On 28 March 2022 the plaintiffs found out that the defendant had uploaded a posting on her Facebook account which they pleaded to contain several defamatory and false statements, and which put a negative light on the image and personality of the plaintiffs. It was alleged that the defendant had continuously made defamatory remarks which had in turn caused her friends to post further allegedly defamatory statements.

As a result, the plaintiffs pleaded that they had suffered emotional stress, depression, and extreme shame especially when dealing with family members, close friends, colleagues, neighbors, clients, and everyone who personally knew them. The plaintiffs file a writ and statement of claim against the defendant on 24 December 2022, in which writ and statement of claim were then served on the defendant on 27 December 2022 by AR Registered post at the defendant’s last known address. The defendant fails to file a memorandum of appearance, hence, judgment in default of appearance was entered against the defendant on 20 February 2023.

The judgment was served to the defendant at last known address by AR Registered post on 01 April 2023. Only on 23 October 2023, the defendant filed an application to set aside the judgment in default of appearance entered.
The crux of the defendant’s contention is that the judgment obtained was irregular and that in any event the defendant had a defence of merits. Plaintiff’s contention is that the judgment was regular.