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Taylor v Burton & Anor [2014] EWCA Civ 21 - 23/01/14

Description

Appeal against, inter alia, an overall costs order, which included amendment costs where the successful party had been granted the amendment and costs of an interim injunction.

Held: The general rule is that those who obtain permission to amend are ordered to pay the other parties' costs of and occasioned by the amendment.

An order providing that a party will recover the costs of an interim application only if they satisfy a costs condition, such as success on an issue relating to that order, must be drafted with precise care. Where the language of the order is imprecise, it must be interpreted against the context of the particular dispute. Where the condition is not satisfied, the parties should be left to bear their own costs.

The hurdle for challenging a costs order is high. An appellate court will only be justified in interfering if there has been a misdirection in principle, a failure to take into account or disregard a factor, or the judgment falls outside the range of reasonable disagreement.

In the present case, the judge was innocently in error by including the amendment and interim application costs. Successful party to bear the amendment costs. Parties left to bear their own costs of the interim application on the basis that the costs condition was not satified. With hesitation and relucatance, the court could not re-consider the overall costs order. The trial judge's decision was not irrational and he correctly addressed himself to the relevant matters.

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