“Whilst I need to be cautious in expressing a view as to the merit of those arguments, given that I instinctively have some sympathy with the submission made by Mr Rubin that a costs order made by the Court of Appeal in this jurisdiction is an order which ought to be complied with regardless, nonetheless I am satisfied that it would not be appropriate for me to deal, almost on-the-hoof, with a stay application which has not even been made the subject of a formal application.”
“I do not think that one should speak in terms of a two-stage test. I would prefer to say that there is both a formal element in the test and a functional element. The importance of the formal element is to ensure that the doctrine of equitable set-off is based on principle and not discretion. The importance of the functional element is to remind litigants and courts that the ultimate rationality of the regime is equity. The two elements cannot ultimately be divorced from each other.”
“[It] would, indeed, be concerning if the court was unable to impose appropriate sanctions on those who choose to ignore its orders and yet continue to seek its process for their own ends.”
“None of those cases [i.e. as cited above and other relied on by Hytera] are relevant for present purposes […] HCC [Hytera] has not identified any authority which suggests that the court should stay a new set of proceedings on the basis that a previous set of proceedings remains unpaid.”
“Implicit in their commencement [i.e. the Freezing Order Application proceedings], therefore, is the fact, and certainly the likelihood, that underlying enforcement proceedings would at some point be commenced.”
“I take the view that orders of the court, even in relation to interim costs, require to be complied with and that, unless there is some overwhelming consideration falling within Article 6 [ECHR] that compels the court to take a different view, the normal consequence of a failure to comply with such an order, is that the court, in order to protect its own procedure, should make compliance with that order a condition of the party in question being able to continue with the litigation.”