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England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions |
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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales Court of Appeal (Civil Division) Decisions >> Henry v News Group Newspapers Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 19 (28 January 2013) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2013/19.html Cite as: [2013] 2 Costs LR 334, [2013] 2 All ER 840, [2013] EWCA Civ 19, [2013] CP Rep 20 |
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ON APPEAL FROM THE SENIOR COURTS COSTS OFFICE
(Senior Costs Judge Hurst)
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
LORD JUSTICE AIKENS
and
LADY JUSTICE BLACK
(sitting with COSTS JUDGE CAMPBELL as Assessor)
____________________
SYLVIA HENRY |
Claimant/ Appellant |
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- and - |
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NEWS GROUP NEWSPAPERS LTD |
Defendant/Respondent |
____________________
WordWave International Limited
A Merrill Communications Company
165 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2DY
Tel No: 020 7404 1400, Fax No: 020 7831 8838
Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)
Mr. Alexander Hutton Q.C. and Mr. Adam Wolanski (instructed by Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP) for the defendant
Hearing date : 4th December 2012
____________________
Crown Copyright ©
Lord Justice Moore-Bick :
Background
Costs Management – Practice Direction 51D
"that the costs of litigation are planned in advance; the litigation is then managed and conducted in such a way as to keep the costs within the budget."
It is clear from the discussion in section 3 of chapter 48 that at that stage Sir Rupert regarded costs budgeting as closely related to costs capping, an approach which was beginning to find favour in some quarters.
"The Defamation Proceedings Costs Management Scheme provides for costs management based on the submission of detailed estimates of future base costs. The objective is to manage the litigation so that the costs of each party are proportionate to the value of the claim and the reputational issues at stake and so that the parties are on an equal footing."
"When assessing costs on the standard basis, the court –
(1) will have regard to the receiving party's last approved budget; and
(2) will not depart from such approved budget unless satisfied that there is good reason to do so."
The detailed assessment
"Whether there is good reason for the court to depart from the court approved costs budget as approved on 20 September 2010, following which:
(i) in the event that the court finds that there are no good reasons to depart from the budget the court will at that hearing determine the sums recoverable by reference to the budget;
(ii) in the event that the court finds that there are good reasons why the budget should be departed from the court will determine by how much the budget should reasonably be exceeded and will if necessary provide directions in respect of the remaining budget items."
It will be appreciated that the only question that actually arose for determination was whether there was a good reason in this case to depart from the appellant's approved budget.
"67. It is clear that the Claimant did not keep either the Defendant or the Court informed of the fact that its budget was being exceeded. Although Mr Browne does not accept the Defendant's analysis of the costs budget, saying that the Claimant's costs lawyer arrived at lower figures in his analysis, the fact is that the budget has been exceeded by a very significant amount, and there has been no attempt by the Claimant to pass this information on. The fact that both sides exceeded their budgets does not assist the Claimant. The Defendant kept the Claimant informed, but the Claimant gave no indication to the Defendant.
68. The provisions of the Practice Direction are in mandatory terms. Each party must prepare a costs budget or revised costs budget (paragraph 3.1), each party must update its budget (3.4), solicitors must liaise monthly to check that the budget is not being or is likely to be exceeded (paragraph 5.5). The objective of the Direction is to manage the litigation so that the costs of each party are proportionate to the value of the claim and reputational issues at stake, and so that the parties are on an equal footing (paragraph 1.3) I am forced to the conclusion that if one party is unaware that the other party's budget has been significantly exceeded, they are no longer on an equal footing, and the purpose of the cost management scheme is lost.
69. Whilst, as I have said, I have no doubt that the Claimant could make out a very good case on detailed assessment for the costs being claimed, the fact is the Claimant has largely ignored the provisions of the Practice Direction and I therefore reluctantly come to the conclusion that there is no good reason to depart from the budget."
The respondent's notice
Good reason
The future
Lord Justice Aikens :
Lady Justice Black :