Author: Howard Tilney
Published: August 22, 2018
Reading time: 1 minute
This article is 7 years old.
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Earlier in the year, Lord Justice Jackson acknowledged that Court of Appeal guidance on the proportionality test was being called for by the legal profession but noted “The remedy lies in their own hands. The Court of Appeal can only decide the cases, which come before it.”
Good point well made.
Then, in May v Wavell Group Plc, an appeal before the County Court, the lower court judge reached the questionable conclusion that the wording of the rule “Costs which are disproportionate in amount may be disallowed or reduced even if they were reasonable or necessarily incurred”, should be interpreted to mean costs, which are disproportionate in amount may be disallowed or reduced even if they were reasonably or necessarily incurred but not by a very substantial amount!
Rightly, permission was sought to appeal such decision to the Court of Appeal.
A golden opportunity for guidance on the proportionality test, one might think.
Think again.
Permission refused.
Once again, the Judicial left and right hands would seem to be disembodied.
Lawgistics Members can contact the legal team with questions about the legal process.