BCL Partner Tom McNeill and Colin Todd of C.S. Todd & Associates Ltd explain the circumstances of a successful cost application following a Fire and Rescue Authority dropping its prosecution case launched against a defendant company under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in the wake of expert evidence.
Courts have made it clear that cost awards of this nature will be very rare, while the bar of proof is set very high. Even if a defendant is found to have no case to answer, this doesn't reach the required threshold, nor does failure on a matter of law and neither does mere unreasonableness.
This article was first written for and featured in the FSM Guide 2025 (pages 20-22), click here to read the full article.
