Impecuniosity and the Indemnity Principle

Leeds CC v Carr Coles and Wells v Barnsley MBC (QBD Div Ct LTR 12 November)

In these two appeals the local authorities sought to avoid paying costs ordered against them on the grounds that private prosecutions in respect of defective properties were funded by the solicitors on the basis that their clients would not be liable to pay any costs to them, win or lose, and that any purported agreement to the contrary was a sham. In both cases the court found there was no sufficient basis for the allegation.