The High Court has ordered that a wasted-costs order against Taculla Limited be recorded as perfected on 13 March 2018, correcting a later date entered by the registrar. It also corrected the order to name William Fry as Dunnes Stores’ solicitors.
The ruling, delivered by Mr Justice Max Barrett on 12 June 2018, concerned Dunnes’ application to correct the written record of the costs order. The judge did not revisit the underlying costs decision or determine any appeal. He said the Court of Appeal would have exclusive authority over any matter brought before it.
The costs order followed an adjournment of a scheduled hearing in Dunnes’ separate application under section 160 of the Planning and Development Act 2000. The application concerns alleged unauthorised development on the public road in front of Harry’s on the Green, a licensed premises in Stephen’s Green Shopping Centre, Dublin.
Taculla served three additional affidavits on 12 March, the day before the scheduled hearing. Dunnes said it needed time to respond and sought an adjournment with wasted costs. The High Court granted that costs order, which was perfected on 13 March. The order mistakenly named Beauchamps as Dunnes’ solicitors and Freehill as Taculla’s solicitors.
Taculla did not appeal the costs order within time. After Dunnes refused consent to an extension, Taculla’s solicitors asked the registrar to amend the order. The amended version corrected Taculla’s solicitors’ name but also changed the perfection date to 11 April. Dunnes argued that the date change made an otherwise late appeal appear to be in time.
Justice Barrett held that the High Court could correct errors in a perfected order under Order 28, rule 11 of the Rules of the Superior Courts. He found that the wrong solicitor names and the subsequent change to the perfection date arose from accidental slips or omissions. He rejected Taculla’s arguments that the rule did not apply to the perfection date or that the issue should be left to the Court of Appeal.
The judge said Taculla’s appeal had been late because it had not acted in time, and the correction did not prejudice it. The court ordered the perfection date restored to 13 March 2018 and Dunnes’ solicitors’ name changed from Beauchamps to William Fry. It made no criticism of the registrar.