Protective costs orders – 1

R (on the application of Buglife-Invertebrate Conservation Trust) v Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation & another [2008] EWCA Civ 1209

The applicant Conservation Trust applied for a protective costs order (PCO) capping its liability in costs in a dispute with the respondent local planning authority, who applied in turn for an order capping their liability in costs to the applicant. The applicant had applied for judicial review of the local authority’s decision to grant planning permission for the development of a site, which contained endangered invertebrate species. The judge had imposed an upper limit of £10,000 on the total amount of costs recoverable both by and from the applicant up to the date of the hearing before it. On appeal, the applicant sought an order that its liability for costs in both courts should be limited to £10,000, and the removal of the reciprocal costs cap of £10,000 on any cost recovered by the applicant if the appeal succeeded.