Involnert Management Inc v Aprilgrange Limited & Ors

Akhil Shah QC and Paul Sinclair (instructed by Jones Day) for the Claimant Alistair Schaff QC and David Walsh (instructed by Ince & Co) for the Defendants Daniel Shapiro (instructed by CMS Cameron McKenna) for the First Third Party Sushma Ananda (instructed by Clyde & Co) for the Second Third Party Hearing date: 22 September 2015 ____________________

The House of Lords held in that case that, where a defendant is ordered to pay "damages to be assessed", interest on the damages under section 17 of the Judgments Act runs only from the date of the judgment or order assessing the damages payable and not from the date of the order establishing liability.

Andrew Smith J declined to defer the date in that case as he did not consider that there were any unusual difficulties involved in the assessment of costs. He also did not accept that it is in itself a sufficient justification for deferral that the costs are likely to be unusually large.

He emphasised that the most important criterion is that any order should reflect what justice requires (see para 26).