Kenneth McAlpine for leave to appeal a decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal [2010] CSIH 66

Motion for expenses:- The Inner House considered a motion at the instance of the respondents, for expenses to be granted in the application for leave to appeal to the court a decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, made by the applicant, Kenneth McAlpine.

On 12 February 2010, the Inner House issued its opinion in explanation of its decision to refuse leave to appeal to the applicant, on the basis that none of the arguments sought to be raised by the applicant were arguable before a court.

In this present matter, the court noted as a basic principle that expenses require to be dealt with according to the exercise of the court's discretion, further noting that expenses will normally follow success in the substantive action. The court noted that in this matter, the respondents were successful in resisting the application for leave to appeal the decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal, and that while they had opted to engage counsel for representation at this hearing for leave to appeal, that decision was not unreasonable as they had a direct interest in the outcome of the application. In the circumstances, the court considered that no facts persuaded them to depart from the normal principles governing expenses, and accordingly, an award for expenses should follow success in the action. Decree for expenses granted in favour of the respondents.