Cayman ISLANDS Law and Practice Contributed by: Sam Dawson, Peter Sherwood and Denis Olarou, Carey Olsen
• an irregularity in any order extending the validity of the writ for the purpose of service; and • forum non conveniens. 4.4 Requirements for Interested Parties to Join a Lawsuit Interested parties not named in a lawsuit may intervene in it with leave of the court. The party wishing to join must apply for joinder and sup- port its application by an affidavit explaining its interest in the matters in dispute (Order 15, Rule 6 of the Grand Court Rules). The court may grant the application if: • the joinder of the proposed intervener is necessary to ensure that all matters in dispute are effectually and completely determined; or • the matter raises an issue between the pro- posed intervener and any party to the matter which the court considers it would be just and convenient to determine between the intervener and the party at the same time as between the parties. 4.5 Applications for Security for Defendant’s Costs A defendant (including a defendant to a coun- terclaim) can apply for an order that the plaintiff must pay a sum of money as security for the defendant’s costs. Security may be ordered, if the court thinks it just to do so, in a variety of circumstances, including where the plaintiff: • is ordinarily resident outside the jurisdiction and the defendant is likely to incur additional costs in enforcing any costs awards against the plaintiff or where there is a real risk of non-enforcement of any costs award; • has failed to state its address in the writ or stated it incorrectly;
• changed its address during the course of pro- ceedings in order to evade the consequences of litigation; • has no business or assets in the jurisdiction; • is a Cayman Islands company which, there is reason to believe, has insufficient assets to pay the costs of the defendant should the defendant succeed at trial; or • is a nominal plaintiff (other than one suing in a representative capacity) suing on behalf of another person and there is reason to believe that that person will be unable to pay costs of the defendant. If one of the criteria is met, the court may make an order for security. There could be a variety of circumstances and reasons why the court might refuse to do so. For example: • if the plaintiff’s impecuniosity was caused by the defendant’s actions; • if an order for security for costs would stifle a meritorious claim; or • delay in making the application. 4.6 Costs of Interim Applications/ Motions The usual rule on costs is that they follow the event; ie, the loser pays. However, the court has wide discretion on the question of costs and can make a variety of alternative orders. In general, the rule is no different in relation to the costs of interim applications. However, there are some exceptions. For example, the costs of any application for an extension of time are nor- mally borne by the applicant, unless the court orders otherwise. Further, there are some procedural applications and hearings, such as case management hear- ings and pre-trial reviews, where the usual court
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