Costs

(i) Where cases are settled, it will normally not be possible to say that one or other party has been successful, and so in those cases the order will be no order as to costs; the court should not depart from the normal order unless it is in a clear position to do so on a proper basis of agreed or determined facts which enable the court to decide what other order should be made.

(ii) Rule 44.4(1)(b) permits a court to award indemnity costs where the facts of the case and/or the conduct of the parties was such as to take the case out of the norm; before such an order can be made there should normally be a significant level of unreasonableness or otherwise inappropriate conduct in that party’s pre-litigation dealings with the successful party or in relation to the institution and conduct of the litigation.

(iii) Part 44.3(5)(d) applies where a party has exaggerated his claim and is relevant where the exaggeration prevented settlement of the dispute at an early stage.