Athena Capital Fund Sicav-Fis S.C.A. v Secretariat of State for the Holy See
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Lord Justice Males,Lord Justice Birss,Lord Justice Peter Jackson |
| Judgment Date | 26 July 2022 |
| Neutral Citation | [2022] EWCA Civ 1061 |
| Docket Number | Case No: CA-2021-003257, CA-2021-003257-A |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
[2022] EWCA Civ 1061
Lord Justice Peter Jackson
Lord Justice Males
and
Lord Justice Birss
Case No: CA-2021-003257, CA-2021-003257-A
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
BUSINESS AND PROPERTY COURTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES
COMMERCIAL COURT (QBD)
Simon Salzedo QC (sitting as a Judge of the High Court)
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Charles Samek QC & Tetyana Nesterchuk (instructed by Withers LLP) for the Appellants
Charles Hollander QC, Samar Abbas Kazmi & James Bradford (instructed by Hill Dickinson LLP) for the Respondent
Written submissions
Approved Judgment
(COSTS)
Remote hand-down: This judgment was handed down remotely at 10.30am on 26 July 2022 by circulation to the parties or their representatives by e-mail and by release to the National Archives.
We are today allowing an appeal in which we hold that the judge, Simon Salzedo QC sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, was wrong to impose a case management stay of these proceedings. Although there are six grounds of appeal, only one of which proved decisive, I would not make a split order for costs as requested by the respondents. The successful appellants are therefore entitled to their costs of the appeal, to be assessed on the standard basis.
We are invited to make an order for a payment on account. This judgment deals with that issue.
The hearing before the judge took place over two days, but included numerous issues which formed no part of the appeal. The hearing of the appeal was listed for one and a half days but, in the event, was concluded in one day.
It therefore came as something of a surprise that according to the statements of costs filed by the parties, the total costs of the appeal amounted to over £730,000. The appellants' costs amounted to some £380,000, while the respondent's costs amounted to some £350,000, including some £30,000 in translation fees.
Breaking these costs down, and in round figures, the appellants' solicitors' costs comprised £175,000 (including hourly rates charged well in excess of the guideline rates set out in Appendix 2 to the “Summary Assessment of Costs” guide published in the White Book), while the fees of leading and junior counsel exceeded £200,000. The respondent's solicitors' costs were £100,000, while counsel's fees (leading and two junior counsel) were £215,000.
This court has recently held that, in the case of solicitors' fees, if a rate in excess...
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