Robert Ebert v Ferrari SpA

Facts

Mr Robert Ebert, a British citizen then living and working in Hong Kong, was driving a Ferrari 458 Spider on 9 June 2015 when he lost control of the vehicle, which left the road and struck a security guard, Mr Ku Lap-Chi, who died. Charged with causing death by dangerous driving, Mr Ebert accepted that he had been speeding but ran a defence of sudden brake failure; a Ferrari technical engineer, Mr Martino Casolari, gave prosecution evidence about the braking system, and expert witnesses on both sides examined the vehicle. Mr Ebert was convicted, his appeal against conviction was dismissed, and in October 2016 he was sentenced to 22 months' imprisonment, serving 14 months before release and deportation to the UK. On 28 October 2021 Ferrari issued a recall of certain vehicles, including 458 Spiders of the same production year, for brake-related defects capable of causing partial or total loss of braking. Mr Ebert issued an application for pre-action disclosure under CPR 31.16 against Ferrari S.p.A, an Italian company, seeking documents about its knowledge of the brake defects and about Mr Casolari's evidence, and obtained permission from Waksman J to serve it in Italy. Ferrari applied to set that order aside.