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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Chancery Division) Decisions >> Jones v Environcom Ltd & Anor [2009] EWHC 16 (Comm) (16 January 2009) URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Ch/2009/16.html Cite as: [2009] EWHC 16 (Comm), [2010] Lloyd's Rep IR 190 |
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QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
COMMERCIAL COURT
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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Nicholas G Jones (suing on his own behalf and on behalf of all underwriting members of the Lloyd's Syndicates referred to in Schedule 1 hereto subscribing to Policy No. WBCUL/07 70695 and on behalf of all underwriting members of the Lloyd's Syndicate 1200 subscribing to Policy No. WBCUL/07 70695 and Policy No. WBHER/05 70108) |
Claimant |
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- and - |
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(1) Environcom Limited (2) Environcom England Limited |
Defendants |
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Neil Hext Esq (instructed by Messrs Edwin Coe) for the Defendants
Hearing dates: 3rd October 2008
(additional written submissions 6th October 2008)
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Crown Copyright ©
Mrs Justice Gloster, DBE:
Introduction
Insurers' application for security for costs of the counterclaim
Preliminary Issues
i) Whether the Defendants' counterclaim is to be regarded as having an "independent vitality of its own", within the meaning of the concept as used in Hutchinson Telephone (UK) Limited v Ultimate Response Limited[1];
ii) whether the costs of the counterclaim for the purpose of an application for security for the costs of the counterclaim are, as a matter of law, confined to those costs that are exclusively referable to the counterclaim (as contended by the Defendants); or whether such costs can include, as a matter of law, costs relating to issues which are common to both the claim and the counterclaim (as contended by Insurers)?
The parties' submissions
i) The application stood on its head what jurisdiction there is to grant costs of a counterclaim. The application was oppressive, because it sought something which the court had never permitted, namely security against a defendant for the costs of a claim brought against him. It was
"a strongly established rule of practice that a person who is in the position of a defendant is to be at liberty to defend himself and is not to be called upon to give security."[6]
ii) The court had a discretion to depart from that rule where there was a counterclaim made, but that discretion will only be exercised where "the counterclaim has an independent vitality of its own"; but it was the substance of the position that counted.[7]
iii) The authorities by and large dealt with the situation where both claimant and defendant have claims for damages arising out of the same transaction. In that situation, the counterclaim will not be regarded as having independent vitality if it is, in substance, an equitable set-off.[8]
iv) In Hutchinson Telephone (UK) Limited (supra), Dillon LJ identified another case where independent vitality was not established, because the counterclaim was just the automatic counterpart of the defence:
"where there is a claim to establish that the plaintiffs are entitled to something, possibly merely to a declaration to that effect, and there is a counterclaim for the opposite declaration, which would be the automatic counterpart of the claim of the plaintiffs failing. There again it would not I would think, normally be appropriate to order a defendant to give security for costs of such a counterclaim".[9]
That situation covered the present case.
v) In the present case the only real issue is Insurers' entitlement to avoid. If that is rejected, the Defendants will, on the pleadings, inevitably be entitled to an indemnity under the Policies as no other coverage issues are raised. Thus the Defendants' case is the automatic counterpart of Insurers' claim. Quantum issues, if not agreed, could be dealt with separately once liability had been determined, and, if it were thought to be appropriate, security could be applied for in respect of those separate quantum issues.
vi) There is little point in ordering security of the costs of the counterclaim (even if the amount ordered were to include the costs of the whole action), since if security for the counterclaim were ordered and not paid, the claim will in any event proceed, since Insurers cannot formally ask that the Defendants be debarred from defending the claim; but the effect of such an order would be to remove all practical benefit that would accrue to the Defendants if they were to succeed in their defence; the effect of the order would either be highly unfair – if the Defendants were prevented for all time from proceeding with their counterclaim, even after their defence had succeeded, or pointless as just giving rise to delay, if the counterclaim were in the event allowed to proceed once Insurers' claim for a declaration had failed. This was part of the reasoning that led the court to refuse security in BJ Crabtree v GPT Communication Systems[10].
i) This was a case where the Defendants' counterclaim went beyond mere self-defence and where the counter-claim had a vitality all of its own; in such circumstances, security may be awarded against a defendant; see The Silver Fir[11]; Hutchinson Telephone (UK) Limited (supra); Thistle Hotel Limited v Gamma Four Limited[12].
ii) A relevant consideration was that, if Insurers had not issued proceedings for a declaration, the Defendants would clearly have done so, seeking an indemnity under the terms of the Policies. In circumstances where it is a matter of chance which party would have issued proceedings, then, as The Silver Fir shows, that fortifies the inference that the counterclaim has an independent vitality of its own and is not a mere matter of defence. Reliance was also placed on Hutchinson Telephone (UK) Limited (supra) at 317F-H.
iii) In a case such as the present, it was not appropriate to confine the quantum of Insurers' security to that tranche of the costs that were exclusively referable to the counterclaim (which in reality would be limited to questions of quantum). Had the Defendants issued proceedings before Insurers, then the fact that Insurers had counter-claimed for declaratory relief that they were entitled to avoid, would not have precluded them from obtaining security for the costs of establishing their entitlement to avoid, as an integral part of the defence to the claim. As the authorities stress, it is the substance of the action that matters and not the form; Hutchinson Telephone (UK) Limited (supra) at 317D-E. The substance of the dispute here was that Insurers were defending a multi-million pound insurance claim on the basis that the contract of insurance was allegedly procured by various material non-disclosures.
Discussion
"having an 'independent vitality of its own', within the meaning of the concept as used in Hutchinson Telephone (UK) Limited v Ultimate Response Limited",
or whether, as a matter of law, the security should be confined to the additional costs caused by the counterclaim, but rather, whether, returning to the wording of CPR Rule 25.13(2)(a), it is just, having regard to all the circumstances, to make an order that the Defendants should provide security for the costs of the counterclaim, and, if so, in what amount. Indeed, as Dillon LJ went on to say, in Hutchinson Telephone (UK) Limited (supra) in the passage immediately following that relied upon by Mr Hext, which I have quoted at paragraph 15 iv) above:
"But there are other circumstances which may lead to other conclusions, as for instance where, in The Silver Fir, there were two claims on different aspects of the one event and it was a matter of chance which party happened to be the plaintiff, and, on one ground or another there was jurisdiction…."[13]
"At that point, one moves on to the largely discretionary area. The trend of authority makes it plain that, even though a counterclaiming defendant may technically be ordered to give security for the costs of a plaintiff against whom he counterclaims, such an order should not ordinarily be made if all the defendant is doing, in substance, is to defend himself. Such an approach is consistent with the general rule that security may not be ordered against a defendant. So the question may arise, as a question of substance, not formality or pleading: is the defendant simply defending himself, or is he going beyond mere self-defence and launching a cross-claim with an independent vitality of its own?
It appears to me that Field J put his finger on the appropriate question when he pithily observed in Mapleson v Masini (1879) 5 QBD 144 at 147:
'The substantial position of the parties must always be looked at.'
For my part, I think that no simple rule of thumb exists to determine the answer to the question. An order for security against a counterclaiming defendant is not precluded because the counterclaim arises out of the same transaction as the claim. Otherwise, no order could have been made in The Silver Fir. It is again not conclusive that the counterclaim overtops the claim, although I venture to think that the relative quantum of the counterclaim and the claim is not in all circumstances irrelevant. It is clearly a relevant consideration that, if the plaintiffs had not issued proceedings, the defendants would have done, as in The Silver Fir, because in such a case it may be almost a matter of chance whether a party happens to be the plaintiff or the defendant; and if the proper inference is that the defendants would have sued anyway, that fortifies the inference that the counterclaim has an independent vitality of its own and is not a mere matter of defence."[14]
"As is usually the case in London maritime arbitrations, both parties are overseas corporations without assets within the jurisdiction. Both parties seek substantive relief: the plaintiffs to be declared free of their charter obligations to the defendant charterers and the defendants to recover substantial damages from the plaintiffs. Either could properly have been claimant in the arbitration quite consistently with normal procedure. Indeed it is the defendant who advances the major claim for monetary compensation, whereas the plaintiffs, although claiming damages, are concerned mainly to have the two vessels declared free of the charter. In these circumstances the just and equitable approach to security for costs would be that there should be orders for both parties to put up such security: the plaintiffs in respect of their claim, the defendants in respect of their counterclaim. This is consistent with the decision of the Court of Appeal in Samuel J. Cohl Co. v. Eastern Mediterranean Maritime Ltd. (The Silver Fir), [1980] 1 Lloyd's Rep. 371.
…
In the present case, as I have said, both parties made substantive claims based on the same facts and either could properly have been claimant. The counterclaim was not merely a defence, directed to smothering the plaintiffs' claim by a set-off: it was a large claim for damages in its own right. The plaintiffs have not suggested that their own damages' claim is of anything like that magnitude. That being so, this presents itself as prima facie a classic case for security from both sides.
…
The plaintiffs say that if the counterclaim remains stayed and no security is put up they are highly unlikely to pursue their claim in the arbitration. This is not difficult to understand. Their main claim is for declaratory relief. If they obtained an award for damages they would be very unlikely to be able to enforce it and the same would be true of an award of costs.
…
Finally, on this point, [defendant's counsel] submitted that the plaintiffs had put up an unsustainably high figure for security. He said the individual items were exaggerated. He has, however, adduced no evidence in support of this submission. I am satisfied that the plaintiffs have sufficiently proved the appropriate question of the individual items on a taxed basis for the purpose of this application. However, [defendant's counsel] further submitted that the amount of security ought to be measured by the extent to which the plaintiffs' potential costs had been and would be increased by having to meet the counterclaim over and above the costs of pursuing their claim had there been no counterclaim. He relied on the decision of the House of Lords in Medway Oil and Storage Co. Ltd. v. Continental Contractors Ltd., [1929] A.C. 88 . That case was concerned with the question how costs of a claim and counterclaim should be taxed where both claim and counterclaim failed and the defendant was awarded his costs of the claim and the plaintiff his costs of the counterclaim. In the result the House of Lords held that the counterclaim should bear only the amount by which the costs of the proceedings had been increased by the counterclaim. [Defendant's counsel] submits that where an order is made for security for costs of the counterclaim the amount of the security should likewise be calculated by reference only to the extent by which the costs of the plaintiff are likely to be increased by the counterclaim over what they otherwise would be.
It may very well be that in cases where the plaintiffs and defendants are advancing claims based on different bodies of fact in the same action security for the costs of the counterclaim should be quantified to reflect the taxation principles stated in Medway Oil. But where both parties are substantial claimants founding their claims on the same body of facts, as in this case, so that if the claim fails the counterclaim will succeed, there can be no basis for adopting such a quantification of the security for costs of the counterclaim. In this kind of case the purpose of security for the costs of the counterclaim is to secure the plaintiff against his inability to recover on an order that the counterclaiming defendant should pay the costs of the proceedings. In such a case the plaintiff is entitled to be secured in respect of costs no less fully than if he were merely defendant to the claim advanced in the counterclaim and not also plaintiff in the action. Where the claim and counterclaim arise out of the same facts the extent of entitlement of a defendant to a claim to security for costs against the claimant cannot depend on the fortuity of whether the claimant is procedurally a plaintiff or a counterclaiming defendant. This ground of criticism of the quantum of security ordered must therefore be rejected." (emphasis supplied)
Conclusion
Note 1 [1993] BCLC 307. [Back] Note 2 See CPR 25.13(1)(a). [Back] Note 3 See per Bingham LJ (as he then was) in Hutchinson Telephone (UK) Limited v Ultimate Response Limited [1993] BCLC 307 at 317. [Back] Note 4 [1973] QB 609, at 626H. [Back] Note 5 See e.g. per Simon Brown LJ in Olakunle Olatawura v Abiloye [2003] 1 WLR 275 (CA). [Back] Note 6 See per Dillon LJ in CT Bowring & Co (Insurance) Ltd v Corsi & Partners Ltd [1995] 1 BCLC 148, at 153f. [Back] Note 7 See Hutchinson Telephone (UK) Limited (supra) at 317d-e, 317e-f. [Back] Note 8 Ibid. at 316c-e. [Back] Note 10 (1990) 59 BLR 43 at 52. [Back] Note 11 [1980] 1 Lloyd’s Rep 371. [Back] Note 12 [2004] EWHC 322 (Ch) [Back] Note 16 See Macgillivray on Insurance Law, 10th Edition, paragraphs 17-26. [Back] Note 17 (1990) 59 BLR 43 CA. [Back] Note 18 See e.g. per Bingham LJ at 52 – 53. [Back] Note 19 [1995] 1 Lloyds Rep 603 QBD, but which was not cited by counsel in their arguments before me. [Back]