Litia Cava 
[Photo: FILE]
The Supreme Court has upheld a $5,000 legal costs order against a man who lost his appeal in an employment-related case.
The petitioner had challenged a Court of Appeal decision requiring him to pay $5,000 to the Permanent Secretary for Education, Heritage and Arts.
His original case was against the Ministry, and after losing in the High Court, he appealed to the Court of Appeal.
That appeal was dismissed, and he was ordered to pay the Ministry’s costs.
He then asked the Supreme Court to overturn that costs order.
The petitioner argued he should not have to pay because lawyers from the Office of the Attorney-General represented the Ministry.
He also argued that $5,000 was too high and that the Court of Appeal should have considered that he was unemployed.
The Supreme Court rejected those arguments.
Justice Geoffrey Nettle said government ministries could recover reasonable legal costs when government lawyers represent them.
The court also ruled that unemployment alone is not enough to prevent a successful party from recovering its costs.
It said the general rule was that the losing party pays the reasonable costs of the successful party.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and ordered the petitioner to pay a further $5,000 in costs.
