INTERIM PAYMENTS AND LEAVE TO APPEAL TO THE COURT OF APPEAL

South West Water Services Limited v International Computers Limited [1999] BLR 420

The decision of Judge Toulmin in South West Water Services Limited v International Computers Limited [1999] BLR 420 deals with a number of issues in relation to interim payments both under the new Civil Procedure Rules and under the old rules. It is made very clear that parties, and their advisers, who respect the court’s time and who prepare and present their cases with diligence and expedience, will be rewarded and that parties who do not are likely to be penalised. In this case, the court decided that costs which were wasted as a result of late disclosure should be paid for on an indemnity basis. Furthermore, the decision rather surprisingly suggests a potentially generous approach with regard to the practice direction of 19 April 1999 relating to leave to appeal and strongly suggests that leave should be granted unless there is ‘no real prospect of success’.