Madden v Commissioner of Police [No 2]

The case of Madden v Commissioner of Police [No 2] involved the appellant, Madden, appealing against decisions made by the District Court, with the Commissioner of Police as the respondent. Madden's appeal was successful, and she sought costs of the appeals to both the Court of Appeal and the District Court. The respondent argued that the appeals were unnecessary due to a procedural error shared by both parties, which should form a basis for denying Madden the usual costs awarded for successful appeals.

The central legal issue was whether the shared procedural error between Madden and the respondent could negate the usual entitlement to costs for a successful appeal. The court considered whether the procedural error that led to the need for appeals should result in the denial of costs to Madden, who was successful in her appeal.

The court held that the shared procedural error did not provide grounds for denying Madden the usual costs associated with her successful appeal. The principle that costs follow the event was reaffirmed, meaning that the successful party in an appeal is entitled to costs unless there are exceptional circumstances that justify otherwise. The court found no exceptional circumstances in this case and ruled that Madden was entitled to costs for both the appeal to the Court of Appeal and the subsequent appeal to the District Court.

Accordingly, the court ordered that the respondent, the Commissioner of Police, must pay the appellant's costs of the application for leave to appeal, the appeal to the Court of Appeal, and the appeal to the District Court. This decision underscored the principle that costs are generally awarded to the successful party in an appeal, except in cases where there are compelling reasons not to do so.