48.5
|
(1)
|
This rule applies to any proceedings where a party is
a child or patient and -- money is ordered or agreed to be paid to, or
for the benefit of, that party; or
- money is ordered to be paid by him or on his
behalf.
|
|
(Child and patient are
defined in rule 2.3)
|
|
(2)
|
The general rule is that -- the court must order a detailed assessment of
the costs payable by any party who is a child or patient to his solicitor;
and
- on an assessment under paragraph (a), the court
must also assess any costs payable to that party in the proceedings, unless the
court has issued a default costs certificate in relation to those costs under
rule 47.11.
|
|
(3)
|
The court need not order detailed assessment of costs
in the circumstances set out in the costs practice direction.
|
|
(4)
|
Where -- a claimant is a child or patient; and
- a detailed assessment has taken place under
paragraph (2)(a), the only amount payable by the child or patient to his
solicitor is the amount which the court certifies as payable.
|
|
(This rule applies to a counterclaim by or on behalf of
a child or patient by virtue of rule 20.3)
|
48.6
|
(1)
|
This rule applies where the court orders (whether by
summary assessment or detailed assessment) that the costs of a litigant in
person are to be paid by any other person.
|
|
(2)
|
The costs allowed under this rule must not exceed,
except in the case of a disbursement, two-thirds of the amount which would have
been allowed if the litigant in person had been represented by a legal
representative.
|
|
(3)
|
Costs allowed to the litigant in person shall be
-- such costs which would have been allowed if the
work had been done or the disbursements made by a legal representative on the
litigant in persons behalf;
- the payments reasonably made by him for legal
services relating to the conduct of the proceedings; and
- the costs of obtaining expert assistance in
connection with assessing the claim for costs.
|
|
(The costs practice direction deals with who may be an
expert for the purpose of paragraph (2)(c))
|
|
(4)
|
Subject to paragraph (2), the amount of costs to be
allowed to the litigant in person for any item of work to which the costs
relate shall, if he fails to prove financial loss, be an amount in respect of
the time spent reasonably doing the work at the rate specified in the costs
practice direction.
|
|
(5)
|
A litigant who is allowed costs for attending at
court to conduct his case is not entitled to a witness allowance in respect of
such attendance in addition to those costs.
|
|
(6)
|
For the purposes of this rule, a litigant in person
includes -- a company or other corporation which is acting
without a legal representative; and
- a barrister, solicitor, solicitors
employee or other authorised litigator (as defined in the Courts and Legal
Services Act 1990
(82)
who is acting for
himself.
|
48.6A
|
(1)
|
This rule applied where the court has made a Group
Litigation Order (GLO).
|
|
(2)
|
In this rule -- individual costs means costs
incurred in relation to an individual claim on the group register;
- common costs means -
- costs incurred in relation to the GLO
issues;
- individual costs incurred in a claim
while it is proceeding as a test claim, and
- costs incurred by the lead solicitor in
administering the group litigation; and
- group litigant means a claimant
or defendant, as the case may be, whose claim is entered on the group
register.
|
|
(3)
|
Unless the court orders otherwise, any order for
common costs against group litigants imposes on each group litigant several
liability(GL) for an equal proportion of those common
costs.
|
|
(4)
|
The general rule is that where a group litigant is
the paying party, he will, in addition to any costs he is liable to pay to the
receiving party, be liable for -- the individual costs of his claim; and
- an equal proportion, together with all the
other group litigants, of the common costs.
|
|
(5)
|
Where the court makes an order about costs in
relation to any application or hearing which involved -- one or more GLO issues; and
- issues relevant only to individual
claims,
the court will direct the proportion of the costs
that is to relate to common costs and the proportion that is to relate to
individual costs.
|
|
(6)
|
Where common costs have been incurred before a claim
is entered on the group register, the court may order the group litigant to be
liable for a proportion of those costs.
|
|
(7)
|
Where a claim is removed from the group register, the
court may make an order for costs in that claim which includes a proportion of
the common costs incurred up to the date on which the claim is removed from the
group register. (Part 19 sets out rules about group litigation).
|
48.7
|
(1)
|
This rule applies where the court is considering
whether to make an order under section 51(6) of the Supreme Court Act
1981
(83)
(courts power to disallow
or (as the case may be) order a legal representative to meet, wasted
costs).
|
|
(2)
|
The court must give the legal representative a
reasonable opportunity to attend a hearing to give reasons why it should not
make such an order.
|
|
(4)
|
When the court makes a wasted costs order, it must
specify the amount to be disallowed or paid.
|
|
(5)
|
The court may direct that notice must be given to the
legal representatives client, in such manner as the court may direct
-- of any proceedings under this rule; or
- of any order made under it against his legal
representative.
|
|
(6)
|
Before making a wasted costs order, the court may
direct a costs judge or a district judge to inquire into the matter and report
to the court.
|
|
(7)
|
The court may refer the question of wasted costs to a
costs judge or a district judge, instead of making a wasted costs order.
|
48.8
|
(1)
|
This rule applies to every assessment of a
solicitor's bill to his client except a bill which is to be paid out of the
Community Legal Service Fund under the Legal Aid Act 1988
(84)
or the Access to Justice Act 1999
(85)
- and
|
|
(1A)
|
Section 74(3) of the Solicitors Act 1974(a) applies
unless the solicitor and client have entered into a written agreement which
expressly permits payment to the solicitor of an amount of costs greater than
that which the client could have recovered from another party to the
proceedings.
|
|
(2)
|
Subject to paragraph (1A), costs are to be assessed
on the indemnity basis but are to be presumed -- to have been reasonably incurred if they were
incurred with the express or implied approval of the client;
- to be reasonable in amount if their amount was
expressly or impliedly approved by the client;
- to have been unreasonably incurred if
-
- they are of an unusual nature or amount;
and
- the solicitor did not tell his client
that as a result he might not recover all of them from the other party.
|
|
(3)
|
Where the court is considering a percentage increase,
whether on the application of the legal representative under rule 44.16 or on
the application of the client, the court will have regard to all the relevant
factors as they reasonably appeared to the solicitor or counsel when the
conditional fee agreement was entered into or varied.
|
|
(4)
|
In paragraph (3), 'conditional fee agreement' means
an agreement enforceable under section 58 of the Courts and Legal Services Act
1990(a) at the date on which that agreement was entered into or varied.'
|
48.9
|
(1)
|
This rule sets out the procedure to be followed where
the court has made an order under Part III of the Solicitors Act
1974
(86)
for the assessment of costs
payable to a solicitor by his client.
|
|
(2)
|
The solicitor must serve a breakdown of costs within
28 days of the order for costs to be assessed.
|
|
(3)
|
The client must serve points of dispute within 14
days after service on him of the breakdown of costs.
|
|
(4)
|
If the solicitor wishes to serve a reply, he must do
so within 14 days of service on him of the points of dispute.
|
|
(5)
|
Either party may file a request for a hearing date
-- after points of dispute have been served;
but
- no later than 3 months after the date of the
order for the costs to be assessed.
|
|
(6)
|
This procedure applies subject to any contrary order
made by the court.
|
|
(Other rules about costs payable in special cases can be
found in Schedule 1, in the following RSC - O.30 (remuneration of
receivers); O.49 (costs of garnishee))
|
(77)
|
1981 c.54. Section 33 was amended by S.I. 1998/2940.
|
(78)
|
1984 c.28. Section 52 was amended by the Courts and Legal
Services Act 1990 (c.41), Schedule 18, paragraph 43 and by S.I.
1998/2940.
|
(79)
|
1981 c.54. Section 34 was amended by S.I. 1998/2940.
|
(80)
|
1984 c.28. Section 53 was amended by the Courts and Legal
Services Act 1990 (c.41), Schedule 18, paragraph 44 and by S.I.
1998/2940.
|
(81)
|
1981 c.54. Section 51 was substituted by section 4(1) of the
Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c.41).
|
(82)
|
1990 c.41.
|
(83)
|
1981 c.54. Section 51 was substituted by section 4(1) of the
Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c.41).
|
(84)
|
1988 c.34.
|
(85)
|
1999 c.22
|
(86)
|
1974 c.47.
|