Practice – Civil litigation. The defendants appealed against the judge's grant of relief from sanctions to both sides. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, in dismissing the appeal, held that the judge had been entitled to decide the matter as he had. On the facts, the relevant circumstances had included: (i) the non-compliance in the case had not been trivial and there had been no good reason for it; (ii) the trial date would not be lost; (iii) no significant extra cost would be occasioned; (iv) refusal to grant relief from the sanction would effectively mean the end of the claim; and (v) the defendants had been in default.