Robertson Research International Ltd v ABG Exploration BV and Others
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 13 October 1999 |
| Date | 13 October 1999 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division |
Queen's Bench Division
Before Mr Justice Laddie
Costs - identifying party responsible
Justice required that where a party could be identified as responsible for litigation which he and some "front man" had lost, he should bear the costs; and those who had good claims, or defences, should not be deterred from running them, for fear of the costs consequences of being faced by men of straw.
Mr Justice Laddie so held sitting as an additional judge of the Queen's Bench Division, in allowing an appeal by Robertson Research International Ltd from the dismissal by Master Leslie, dated August 6, 1999, of its application for costs against the second and third defendants, Mr Philip Little and Mr and Jeremy Little, respectively the financial controller and secretary, and the director, president and chief executive officer of the first defendant ABG Exploration BV.
Section 51 of the Supreme Court Act 1981, as substituted by section 4(1) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990, provides:
"(1) … the costs of and incidental to all proceedings in … (b) the High Court … shall be in the discretion of the court…
"(3) The court shall have full power to determine by whom and to what extent the costs are to be paid…
"(6) In any proceedings mentioned in subsection (1), the court may … order the legal or other representative concerned to meet the whole of any wasted costs or such part of them as may be determined in accordance with rules of court."
Paragraph 48.2 of the Civil Procedure Rules (SI 1998 No 3132) provides:
"Where the court is considering whether to exercise its power under section 51 … to make a costs order … against a person who is not a party to proceedings - (a) that person must be added as a party to the proceedings for the purposes of costs only…"
In the practice direction relating to Part 48 section 1, rule 48.7, headed "Personal liability of legal representatives for costs - wasted costs orders" (see 48PD-015) paragraph 2.5 provides: "The court will give directions about the procedure that will be followed in each case in order to ensure that the issues are dealt with in a way that is fair and as simple and summary as the circumstances permit."
Mr Adrian Beltrami for Robertson Research; Mr Philip Bartle for the Littles.
MR JUSTICE LADDIE said that Robertson Research, after involvement in a joint venture with ABG, had on September 24, 1998 issued...
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