High Court, further to a settlement in the sum of €9 million for catastrophic personal injuries to a child resident in Spain, determines that the defendants were liable for the costs of a wardship application in Spain, but not costs incurred in an associated dispute between the child's parents, on the grounds that: (a) the use in the original court order of the term "and incidental to" meant that any additional costs must be incidental to the wardship application and nothing else; (b) the order had been made on consent, so should be treated as a contract between the parties as well as a court order, and the expansive view of the costs contended for by the plaintiff could not have been within the contemplation of the defendant at the time of the settlement.
Claim by minor - whether minor plaintiff entitled to recover from defendants the costs of an application to take him into wardship - catastrophic personal injuries - settlement in the sum of €9 million - injured party being a Spanish national - order that minor be admitted to Spanish equivalent of wardship - costs of an application to take child into wardship outside the jurisdiction - directions for certain payments out - proceedings in Spain - order for transfer of funds in court to Spain - inter partes correspondence - acceptance by defendants that they were liable for costs of wardship - bill of costs in the sum of €195K - dispute as to liability - use of phrase "and incidental to" - proceedings between parents of injured party concerning wardship.