The Applicant applied for, among other things, permission to Appeal a Decision made by a Chambers Judge in 2021 (the “2021 Decision”) to the extent it was a “decision as to costs only” pursuant to Rule 14.5(1)(e).

The 2021 Decision awarded “some costs” which the Court found was “a decision as to costs only”. The Court determined that this was sufficient to trigger the permission to Appeal requirement in Rule 14.5(1)(e).

The Court noted the following difficulties in assessing the Application: (1) there was no formal Order as stated; (2) there was no Costs amount or a basis for a specific Costs Award to consider whether permission to Appeal should be granted, specifying that the amount of Costs in dispute is a factor to be considered; (3) the Application was premature; and (4) the utility of any remedy granted was unclear.

The Court ultimately found that the proposed Appeal advanced by way of the Application did not raise an arguable point of general importance which would justify a full panel of the Court of Appeal to review the matter. The Court additionally noted that if the Costs at issue turned out to be under $25,000, it would not have granted permission to Appeal in any event. The Court noted that a crystallized Appeal with a proper foundation may still present itself, and as such the Court dismissed the Application without prejudice to the Application being revived.