Protective Costs Orders Approved By The House Of Lords

Protective Costs Orders are something of a constitutional novelty, and the principles that govern their award, their ambit and even their very existence have been controversial. However the House of Lords have recently implicitly approved their status – and they may be available even where the applicant has a private interest in the outcome.

Public Interest v Private Interest - MO(Nigeria) Part II

It is a notorious fact that extensive litigation is generally a privilege extended to the rich or the penurious, but likely to be beyond the means of the public at large. The introduction of Conditional Fee Arrangements (CFAs) has gone some way to address this point, but glaring gaps remain. In particular, even with a CFA a litigant is at risk of an adverse costs order. Normally of course the litigant will seek the security of after the event (ATE) insurance to cover an award against him, but these are provided by the private sector and they are understandably nervous of