01752 424850Syliva Henry v Newsgroup Newspapers limited
Sylvia Henry v Newspapers Limited – a new era in satellite litigation?
On 28th January 2013 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in the case of Sylvia Henry v News Group Newspapers Limited [2013] EWCA Civ 19.
A link to the judgment can be found here: http://www.bailii.org
The decision is important as it is the first decision of an appellate court on the pressing issue of costs budgeting and how the court is meant to unpick the consequences of a receiving party failing to comply with its obligations in respect of costs budgeting.
The decision at first instance
The underlying litigation arose from a case brought against The Sun by a social worker who had been defamed in the aftermath of Baby P’s death. Her claim had fallen within the scope of the pilot costs management scheme embodied in Practice Direction 51D. As the Court of Appeal noted, the purpose of costs management under the scheme was as follows: