Can costs be ordered against a local authority, asks Jonathan Herring
The Supreme Court is not normally asked to consider costs orders in any detail, but in Re T (Children) [2012] UKSC 36 it did so because the question was an important one of principle. The central issue was whether a local authority could be required to pay the costs of a party to care proceedings.
Care proceedings had been brought by a council, following allegations from two children that they had been sexually abused by their father and six other men. It was alleged that the children’s grandparents had colluded with the abuse. The grandparents were joined as interveners as well as five of the men. A fact-finding hearing took place in 2009, lasting five and a half weeks. The hearing exonerated the grandparents and the five men.
The costs issue arose because the grandparents (a retired fisherman and part-time bookkeeper), who had a modest income of £25,000, were not entitled to legal aid. They borrowed £55,000 to fund their legal advice and representation. It was estimated it would take them 15 years to pay
