The appellant sought two permissions to appeal. Having at one stage been legally aided in proceedings, a claim for his solicitors costs had been compromised. The court records were imperfect. It was not clear whether a circuit judge sitting as a first appeal court had directed that a matter should be heard by another circuit judge as an appeal by way of rehearing, or as a rehearing of the original application.
Held: Courts must be careful to be clear as to just what was being ordered. There was no evidence to justify a finding that Mr Smith had sufficient means to pay the full amount of the costs order against him, whether by consent or not.
Judges:
Lord Justice Schiemann, Lord Justice Brooke and Lord Justice Jonathan Parker
Citations:
[2003] EWCA Civ 703, Times 27-May-2003, Gazette 31-Jul-2003
Links:
Statutes:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Chaggar v Chaggar CA 1997
When considering making an order that an assisted person make a contribution to costs, the task of the court is set out in s 17: it is to decide the assisted parties’ liability for costs. Those costs must not exceed that which it is reasonable for . .
Cited – Crystall v Crystall CA 1963
When considering an order that a legally aided party should pay all or part of any costs, one of the circumstances, and a compelling circumstance, is the means of the party himself. Whatever one may think of the conduct of a party it would still not . .
Cited – Gooday v Gooday CA 1968
The court considered whether it was appropriate to order a contribution to costs from a legally aided party.
Held: Although the judge was correct that the wife should not have persisted in bringing a hopeless case against the husband, the 1949 . .
Cited by:
Cited – Southern and District Finance Plc v Turner CA 7-Nov-2003
The defendant sought to assert that the agreement under which possession of her house was sought was an extortionate credit bargain. She had to obtain leave to appeal out of time.
Held: The rules required an application to be supported by . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Litigation Practice, Legal Aid
Updated: 07 June 2022; Ref: scu.182342