Law digests: 1 March 2024

Costs

Xanthopoulos v Rakshina [2024] EWCA Civ 100, [2024] All ER (D) 47 (Feb)

The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, ruled on the parties’ application for costs following an appeal made in connection with Family Division proceedings. The respondent had made an unusual application for costs in circumstances where the appeal had been successful in the appellant’s favour. The respondent grounded her claims on the appellant’s litigation misconduct which, she claimed, included the increase of the time estimated for the appeal hearing by half a day to accommodate the appellant’s numerous unmeritorious, ancillary applications. The appellant’s claims for costs, on the other hand, were grounded on the basis that he had been successful in the appeal and had achieved a much better outcome. The court held that while a costs application related to appeals in Family Division proceedings was an exception to the general rule that costs follow the event by reason of CPR 44.2(3)(a), that rule could not be applied in the present case. The respondent had failed to resist the