Tatu Seleman v. COSATA, Civ, App. 10-M-66; 14/3/67; Platt, J.

Tatu Seleman v. COSATA, Civ, App. 10-M-66; 14/3/67; Platt, J.

Defendant succeeded in an action brought against him for goods sold and delivered. Defendant’s preliminary motion, for a ruling that no cause of action had been stated, had been rejected, but no costs on the motion had been awarded. Upon final judgment, defendant was awarded costs for Shs. 25/-, At no time did the trial court hear argument by either party on the issue of costs, and the court did not specify its reasons for the award that was made

            Held: (1) Scale 11 fees of Shs. 70/- should be awarded in defended cases, such as this. [Advocates’ Remunerations Taxation of Costs (Amendment Rules, Rule 61 (1).] (2) The trial court has discretion in this matter under Rule 61, paragraphs (2), (3) and (5). However, since no reasons were given, the court will not be deemed to have exercised its discretion in a judicial manner. Its order, therefore, is reviewable. (3) Under Rule 61, paragraph (5), the trial court could have awarded costs at the time of the interlocutory ruling or deferred the matter until final judgment. In either case, the parties should be allowed to address the court as to costs at some stage. (4) This was not an appropriate case for an award of costs to follow the event. However, the costs on the ruling would be reasonable. Therefore, the resulting allocation of Shs. 25/- for costs to defendant should not be disturbed.