Public bodies acting in good faith to bring proceedings to the Court of Protection appropriately should not fear a costs order, but where delay in doing this makes the case more complicated and costly, they can expect to be punished in costs, as well as publicity.
In the long running Deprivation of Liberty case of G v E, Manchester City Council was named and shamed for breaching Articles 5 (liberty) and 8 (family life) of the European Convention by removing a young man with learning difficulties from his foster family, and putting him into a supported living arrangement without lawful authority.
The Court of Appeal has now (2 August 2011) upheld the costs order that the local authority should pay a hefty chunk of the family’s legal costs, rumoured to run to hundreds of thousands of pounds. After the recent judgment in Neary, this is another good reason to be getting appropriate cases to Court as quickly as possible.