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The decision in the Merrix appeal is impeccable but the defendant will appeal because that's what defendants do when any common sense costs decision is handed down. Rule 3.18 is crystal clear and requires good reason to be shown to depart from the budgeted costs. This is because at the CCMC the court "will consider whether the budgeted costs fall within the range of reasonable and proportionate costs" when fixing the budget(PD para 7.3) .

It is nonsense to then go through a line by line assessment for those costs which have already been subjected to what is often a vigorous process of costs control.