The Court of Ap­peal has pro­vid­ed guid­ance on cir­cum­stances in which lit­i­gants chal­leng­ing de­ci­sions by pub­lic bod­ies may re­cov­er their le­gal costs even when they with­draw their claims at a pre­lim­i­nary stage.

Ap­pel­late Judges Prakash Moo­sai, Vasheist Kokaram, and Eleanor Don­ald­son-Hon­ey­well pro­vid­ed the guid­ance yes­ter­day as they de­ter­mined a con­sol­i­dat­ed ap­peal in two cas­es.

In one case the Ju­di­cial and Le­gal Ser­vice Com­mis­sion (JLSC) ap­pealed when it was or­dered to pay the le­gal costs in­curred by for­mer mag­is­trate and cur­rent High Court Mas­ter Sarah De Sil­va re­lat­ed to a law­suit over its han­dling of a dis­ci­pli­nary com­plaint against her.