How is the scale of taxation of party-party costs determined?
Have you ever wondered how the scale of taxation of party-party costs is determined in Costs Court? ?? Let's break it down!
?? According to r 63.24 of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015, if the plaintiff recovers less than $100,000 in a proceeding for ‘debt or damages’ the plaintiff is usually only entitled to their costs at the County Court scale.
?? But here's the catch: if the plaintiff also sought other relief, say an account of profits, or specific performance, it’s probably not a proceeding for ‘debt or damages’ – in which case r 63.24 does not apply. Therefore, it’s crucial to look at the plaintiff’s pleadings and the way they conducted their case in addition to the outcome of the proceeding!
??Rule 63.25 only extends the operation of r 63.24 to proceedings for relief other than debt or damages if the proceeding was resolved by judgment or acceptance of an offer of compromise under r 26.03. That means the defendant is out of luck if the matter was resolved at mediation or by negotiation. ?
?? But at the end of the day, it’s all about keeping costs fair! The main goal of these rules is to deter people from incurring unnecessary costs by bringing proceedings in the wrong court. If, having regard to all the circumstances, the Supreme Court was the right place for your case, the court can still allow costs at the higher scale.
????For the authorities, please see:
Barrister at Victorian Bar | Sessional Teaching Associate at Monash University
1 年Another thing to watch out for is that, uniquely in the Victorian Courts, "indemnity costs" does not mean costs calculated on a solicitor-client/retainer basis, but still only according to the relevant County/Supreme Court scales! The only thing that changes on an indemnity costs order is that the burden of proving the reasonableness of each line item claimed falls on the payer (rather than the claimant).