The Court of Appeal has awarded Peter Charleton the costs of an appeal and the underlying High Court proceedings after dismissing Keith Harrison’s appeal on all grounds.
In a ruling delivered on 23 July 2020, Mr Justice Noonan said the respondent had been entirely successful and was entitled to costs unless Harrison demonstrated special reasons for departing from the normal rule. Justices Faherty and Power agreed with the ruling.
The appeal had been dismissed in a principal judgment delivered on 22 June 2020. In that judgment, the court had indicated a provisional view that Charleton should receive the appeal costs, while giving Harrison an opportunity to submit arguments for a different order. Both parties made written submissions on costs.
Harrison sought no order as to costs in either the Court of Appeal or the High Court. His submissions revisited complaints about alleged failures to disclose information concerning Chief Superintendent McGinn, which Harrison said could have helped him assess whether there was a potential for bias or seek Charleton’s recusal. He also raised pre-proceedings correspondence and the adequacy of information in the statement of opposition. Harrison argued that a High Court decision on whether McGinn had a “stake” in the outcome of the Disclosures Tribunal had made an appeal inevitable. The Court of Appeal said it had not needed to determine that issue in the principal judgment.
The court considered the costs framework under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 and Order 99 of the Rules of the Superior Courts. It said a party entirely successful in proceedings is entitled to costs unless the court orders otherwise, taking account of the case’s nature and circumstances and the parties’ conduct before and during proceedings.
Noonan J said Harrison’s costs submissions largely attempted to re-argue matters already aired in the High Court and Court of Appeal. A section of the principal judgment had addressed the alleged disclosure failures under the heading “Duty of Candour”, and the costs submissions did not meaningfully engage with that judgment’s findings, he said.
The court concluded that Harrison had established no basis to depart from the normal rule. It ordered that Charleton receive the costs of the appeal and the High Court proceedings.