Liquidator Not Liable For Costs

The First Respondent had successfully resisted an application made by the Official Receiver (at the request of the liquidator of both the company and its main creditor) for his public examination pursuant to s.133 IA 1986. He applied to join the liquidator, and sought a third-party costs order against him.

There was no known authority for the making of a third-party costs order following a failed application under s.133.

CPR 46.2 provides a process whereby a non-party could be added for purposes of costs only. Whether the liquidator should be joined as a party in his personal capacity turned upon whether there was a reasonable prospect of an order being made against him.

Chief ICC Judge Briggs held that the liquidator could not be described as the “real party” to the litigation. The request for a public examination was not made by him; only the Official Receiver could make the application. There was no evidence that he had requested the application for his own