Costs

It was settled law that, in deciding whether to deprive a successful party of some or all of its costs on the grounds that it had refused to agree to alternative dispute resolution, it had to be borne in mind that such an order was an exception to the general rule that costs should follow the event. The burden was on the unsuccessful party to show why there should be a departure from the general rule. The fundamental principle was that such departure was not justified unless it was shown that the successful party acted unreasonably in refusing to agree to alternative dispute resolution.