McGuire v Wellington Standards Committee (No 1)

The High Court of New Zealand was tasked with deciding the costs associated with a judicial review application brought by Jeremy James McGuire against the Wellington Standards Committee and the Lawyers and Conveyancers Disciplinary Tribunal. The primary issue before the Court was whether McGuire was entitled to indemnity costs for the disciplinary proceedings and his subsequent application for judicial review. The Court had previously indicated that McGuire should be entitled to some costs, but that these should be reduced by around 25% due to the number of unsuccessful issues raised. The Court needed to determine the extent of the reduction and whether it should be further reduced, as suggested by the Wellington Standards Committee. The Wellington Standards Committee argued for a more significant reduction than the initial 25%, claiming that McGuire's additional unsuccessful issues and the costs of an interlocutory application significantly increased their costs.

The Court considered the submissions from both parties and the principles of costs in judicial review cases. It noted that while McGuire had succeeded in having the decision to censure him quashed, he had also raised numerous unsuccessful issues that increased the costs for the Wellington Standards Committee. The Court determined that the reduction should be slightly more than the initial 25%, but not as drastic as the 50% reduction proposed by the Wellington Standards Committee. The Court arrived at a reduction of approximately 31%, resulting in an award of $14,700 in costs to McGuire. The Court found that this approach was appropriate and in line with the principles of costs in judicial review cases, where a party who has succeeded overall but failed on certain issues may still be entitled to some costs, albeit reduced. The Court ordered that the Wellington Standards Committee pay $14,700 to McGuire as costs for the judicial review application.