The Court of Appeal has confirmed that Jackson Way Properties Ltd must pay Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council’s costs from an unsuccessful appeal and has refused the company’s request to postpone payment while related litigation continues.
The ruling follows the court’s February 11 dismissal of Jackson Way’s appeal against a High Court refusal to direct part payment of a compensation award made by an arbitrator in 2003 after the council compulsorily acquired its land.
Jackson Way had succeeded on one legal point: the Court of Appeal accepted that the High Court was wrong to treat its application for part payment as equivalent to a mandatory interlocutory injunction. However, the company still failed to obtain the payment sought when the less stringent test it argued for was applied.
Ms Justice Butler said that limited success did not justify reducing the council’s costs. The point occupied only a minor part of the one-day appeal and did not materially add to the hearing or expense.
The court also rejected Jackson Way’s argument that the council’s earlier conduct should affect costs, including a failed attempt in 2002 to stop the arbitration. It held that conduct was too remote from the present proceedings, which began in 2008.
Jackson Way sought a stay on paying the appeal costs so they might ultimately be set off against compensation due for the land. The court refused, noting unresolved litigation over a restrictive covenant affecting the property and uncertainty over whether any future order removing that covenant would lead directly to payment of the arbitral award.
The ruling settles only the costs consequences of the dismissed appeal. It does not determine whether the 2003 compensation award is ultimately enforceable or the outcome of Jackson Way’s separate proceedings concerning the restrictive covenant.