Relief from sanctions allowed on Appeal
The Appeal in Long v Value Properties & Ocean Trade Limited was formally handed down yesterday.
The receiving party had previously been denied relief from sanctions by the Costs Judge but the Appeal was allowed.
The Judgment states “…this appeal must be allowed, either on the basis that an incorrect sanction has been applied to the breach in question, or, if I am wrong about that, on the basis that relief from that sanction in its entirety should be granted by the court pursuant to CPR 3.9.”
The Appeal Judge also stated, inter alia, that “For the avoidance of doubt, I record that this would have been my conclusion even in the absence of the helpful guidance in Denton” and further that “I would also add that the defendants’ behaviour here has been precisely the kind of opportunistic, and non-cooperative conduct in litigation condemned by the Court of Appeal in Denton.”
