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Refugee Legal Centre, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

[2004] EWCA Civ 1296

C1/2004/0939(1)
Neutral Citation Number: [2004] EWCA Civ 1296
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)

ON APPEAL FROM THE ADMINISTRATIVE COURT

QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION

(MR JUSTICE COLLINS)

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand

London, WC2

Wednesday, 22nd September 2004

B E F O R E:

LORD JUSTICE BROOKE

(Vice President of the Court of Appeal, Civil Division)

LORD JUSTICE POTTER

LORD JUSTICE CLARKE

THE QUEEN ON THE APPLICATION OF THE REFUGEE LEGAL CENTRE

Claimants/Appellants

-v-

SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT

Defendant/Respondent

(Computer-Aided Transcript of the Stenograph Notes of

Smith Bernal Wordwave Limited

190 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2AG

Tel No: 020 7404 1400 Fax No: 020 7831 8838

Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)

MR M FORDHAM AND MR N DE MARCO (instructed by the Public Law Project) appeared on behalf of the Appellants

MR P PATEL (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) appeared on behalf of the Respondent

J U D G M E N T

1.

LORD JUSTICE BROOKE: This is a matter which came before me last week, when I made a protective costs order protecting the claimants, the Refugee Legal Centre, from any potential order for costs in relation to the application which was listed for hearing before the court this morning. I mention this because I gave an oral judgment in that case, which, like the present judgment, can certainly have any normal bar on the citation of a judgment of this kind lifted. That judgment sets out the particular circumstances of this particular appeal and this particular application. Anybody who wishes to know the nature of the order we are making today would be wise to read that judgment to see the peculiar nature of the problem that the court faced.

2.

It is noteworthy that, in this matter, the lawyers for the Refugee Legal Centre have been acting pro bono throughout, so that the nature of the order that we are making today is not an order made in a case in which the appellants would be seeking an order for costs in their favour if they won, but seeking to be protected from such an order if they lost.

3.

The Secretary of State has consented to the order being made today in relation to the substantive appeal, which is due to be heard in the first week of October, and the court is content to make the order. But I must make it completely clear that two members of the court have really not been involved in this matter at all. They were told yesterday that there was to be a consent order, so that this cannot in any way be regarded as a considered order of the Court of Appeal following full argument on the issues in the case. On the other hand, I am is satisfied that it is appropriate to make a consent order on this occasion.

4.

Order: Consent order made to the effect that there will no be order for costs at the hearing of the substantive appeal. At the request of the appellants, the court directed that the list of Claimants' Authorities should be annexed as a Schedule to this judgment.

___________________________________________

CLAIMANT’S AUTHORITIES

___________________________________________

Authority

Relevance

0

CPAG [1999] 1 WLR 347

High Court pre-CPR decision on pre-emptive costs

1

Law Commission No. 226 (extract) 1994

Report on Administrative law procedure

2

Australian Law Reform Commission (extract) 1995

Australian report on cost allocation

3

Access to Justice Report (extract) 1996

Report on CPR reforms

4

“Pre-Emptive Costs Orders” Scott [2001] CLQ 20, 298

Commentary on pre-emptive costs

5

“Whose Cost the Public Interest?” Chakrabarti & ors [2003] PL 697

Commentary on pre-emptive costs

6

“Pre-emptive Costs Orders” Markus & Westgate [1998] JR 76

Commentary on pre-emptive costs

7

“Environmental Litigation – A Way Through The Maze?” Carnwath [1999] J.Env.L. Vol. 11 No. 1, 3

Costs in environmental litigation – see section 5

8

Environmental Justice Project Report (extract) 2004 & Coalition for Access to Justice for the Env. Briefing

Costs in environmental context

9

“Taking a Case to the E Ct HR” Leach (Blackstone)

Costs in the E Ct HR

10

“Funding Public Litigation” Peltz & Froese (2001)

Canadian article on public interest costs

11

Blackburn [1973] 1 QB 241

Example of no costs order – see 265B

12

Evans [1982] 1 WLR 1155

Example of no-costs condition on leave to appeal – see 1164C

13

Davies [1987] 1 WLR 1136

Recognising prospective costs jurisdiction

14

New Zealand Maori Council [1994] 1 AC 466

Example of no costs order – see 485G-H

15

McDonald v Horn [1985] ICR 685

Pre-emptive costs in pensions context

16

WDM [1995] 1 WLR 385

Standing & public interest – see 395H-396A

17

Bolton MDC [1995] 1 WLR 1176

Multiple sets of costs

18

Finnie (1997) 29 HLR 658

Cross-undertaking in damages – see 661

19

Shelter [1997] COD 1-77, 49

No order for costs

20

Dixon [1998] Env LR 111

Standing & public interest

21

Dyfed Powys Police (Unrep. 9 Nov 1998, HC)

Costs and licensing appeals

22

O’Byrne [2000] CP Rep 9

Costs and joinder, see pp 5-6

23

Village Residents Association Ltd [2000] 4 IR 321

Irish pre-emptive costs, see pp 6-9

24

Axa Equity [2000] Westlaw transcript 1720417

Pre-emptive costs and pension schemes – see p. 11

25

CND [2002] EWHC 2712 Admin

Pre-emptive cost-capping order – see para 6

26

Munjaz [2003] 3 WLR 1505

Issue-based costs & public interest – para 89

27

C v FC [2004] 1 FLR 362

Costs in children cases

28

Mount Cook [2003] EWCA Civ 1346

Costs and permission hearings – see paras 76-77

29

Davies [2004] 3 All 543

Costs and coroners

30

King [2004] EWCA Civ 613

Cost capping orders – see paras 78-109

31

Hashtroodi [2004] 3 All ER 530

CPR as a new era – see paras 12-16

32

Morris [2004] EWHC 1199 Admin

Test case – see paras 15-23

33

Okanagan Indian Band (2003) 114 CCR 2d 108

Interim costs in Canadian public interest cases

Refugee Legal Centre, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

[2004] EWCA Civ 1296

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