McGucken v McGucken
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1991 |
| Date | 01 January 1991 |
| Court | Chancery Division (Northern Ireland) |
- Civil proceedings - Order for costs against assisted party - Order not to be enforced without further order of the court -Application for removal of restriction - Matters to be considered in deciding extent of contribution - Whether assessed contribution to legal aid fund should limit amount ordered to be paid towards costs - Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order, 1981 (S.I. No.228, N.I. 8), arts. 11, 14 - Legal Aid (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland), 1965 (S.R. No.217), reg. 18 - Legal Aid (Assessment of Resources) Regulations (Northern Ireland), 1981 (S.R. No. 189), reg. 4, Sch. 2.
The plaintiff brought an unsuccessful action against the defendants. After judgment had been given for the defendants, the court ordered the plaintiff to pay the defendants' costs but, since the plaintiff was legally aided, directed that the order should not be enforced without further order of the court. The defendants applied to the court by notice of motion for the removal of this restriction on the grounds that the plaintiff should pay the whole of the costs of the action because he, as the owner of farmland worth on his own estimation at between £180,000 and £200,000, was able to pay such costs notwithstanding that he was a legally aided person. Held, granting the application, that, 1, under Article 14 of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order, 1981, the plaintiff's eligibility for legal aid depended on the amount of his "disposable income", and the amount of his "disposable capital" as determined in accordance with the provisions of regulation 4 and Schedule 2 of the Legal Aid (Assessment of Resources) Regulations (Northern Ireland), 1981. In making this computation, substantial sums might have been disregarded which the court might not consider it proper to exclude in determining an assisted person's liability for his opponent's costs, and therefore this assessment did not limit the amount which the court might order a plaintiff to pay towards a defendant's costs under Article 11 of the Order. Bellantyne v. DouglasSC [1953] S.C. 285 and Gooday v. GoodayUNK [1986] 3 All E.R. 611 applied. 2. Article 11 (1) (e) of the 1981 Order and the Legal Aid (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland), 1965, restrict the liability of a legally aided party to pay costs to an amount which was a reasonable one for him to pay having regard to all the circumstances including the means of the parties and...
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