May 2014
BERMUDA
SUPREME COURT
STAY PENDING APPEAL – RULING ON COSTS AND TERMS OF FINAL ORDER – INDEMNITY COSTS – MISCONDUCT – RETURN OF MONIES HELD AS SECURITY FOR COSTS
This ruling followed on from a five-week trial that concluded in December 2013. The matter was listed to enable the parties to consider what conditions should be attached to a stay pending appeal (which it was common ground that the Defendant was entitled to seek) and, in particular, to hear submissions on costs.
In considering costs, the Judge held that the Plaintiffs had achieved substantial success in their claim and should be awarded their costs. The Judge considered the dictum of Devlin J in Anglo-Cyprian Trade Agencies Ltd -v- Paphos Wine Industries Ltd. [1951] 1 All ER 873 at 874, cited with approval by Hellman J in Williams -v- Bermuda Hospitals Board [2013] Bda LR 14 which set out that: (1) A successful Plaintiff ought not to be deprived of costs unless he is found to be guilty of misconduct; and (2) A plaintiff who recovers nominal damages ought not to be regarded in the ordinary sense as ‘successful’. In considering this test, the Judge held that the success of the Plaintiff was more than ‘pyrrhic’ and they should be awarded their costs.