Basil Anthony Herman v Premier Security Co-Operative Ltd and others

Choo Han Teck J:

(a) The list above is a useful but obvious reminder of matters that are relevant to the trial or proceedings which the court assessing costs should consider. There is little left that is not covered in the list above, but unusual cases may warrant the court’s consideration of their unusual features. At this point, we are only concerned with the general. The important purpose of the exercise of assessing costs is to ensure that the receiving party is given a fair amount of money towards compensating the costs he expended in pursuit of his cause. It is not to compensate him for every cent he expended even if they were reasonably expended. It is in the public interest to keep costs within reasonable limits.