Costs

With respect to lis alibi pendens, it was plain from a number of authorities that an application under s 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 did not involve the assertion of a cause of action, but was a request for the exercise by the English court of a statutory discretion in relation to proceedings in which the court already had jurisdiction and had usually already given judgment against a party subject to that jurisdiction. No court in any other jurisdiction could exercise that discretion. Further, the immunity of a witness did not prevent his evidence being used to establish liability for costs in a s 51 application, as such use was an exception to the general principle.