Deutsche Bank AG v Sebastian Holdings (2016)

The Court of Appeal upholds a decision to penalise a non-party to the litigation in costs and underlined that the most important consideration was whether the person against whom the order was sought had a sufficiently close connection to the proceedings to justify the court treating him as though he were a party. 

At trial, the Commercial Court found that Mr Alexander Vik, the sole shareholder and sole director of the defendant (Sebastian Holdings Inc.) had controlled and funded the litigation, that he had stood to benefit personally from it and that the company's conduct had been reprehensible.  In light of this, the Commercial Court made a non-party costs order against him. 

The Court of Appeal stated that, "the critical factor in each case is the nature and degree of [the non-party's] connection with the proceedings, and further, in a case where the court is satisfied that the third party is effectively controlling the litigation, supporting it, whether