England and Wales High Court (Administrative Court) Decisions

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT

		Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
		10/03/2015

MR JUSTICE GILBART:

1. Pursuant to my order herein of 20 February 2015, I have received submissions on the issue of costs. The Claimant seeks an order for costs to be paid on the indemnity basis, and for an interim payment to be made under CPR 44.2(8).
2. The Defendant opposes both applications.
3. As to the first, I do not consider that the conduct of the Defence was such as to justify an award of indemnity costs. While there were undoubtedly aspects of the conduct of the Defence which could have been improved upon, I do not consider that they took matters sufficiently far from the normal to justify such an award.
4. As to an interim payment, I accept that one should be made given the terms of the CPR. However I am very loath to award an interim payment in the form of a percentage of a bill of costs which the court and the Defendant have not seen. I have therefore, using my judgment, decided on a figure which I can expect to be exceeded in the eventual award of costs