Principles of costs recovery

General principles of costs recovery

Costs recovery is governed by several principles starting with the application of the general rule. For an introduction to some key resources in this area, see Practice Notes: Costs glossary and Costs precedents.

Cost orders—the general rule and the court's discretion

The general rule on costs recovery is that the unsuccessful party will pay the successful party’s costs (CPR 44.2(2)(a)). However, the court has the discretion to make a different order (CPR 44.2(2)(b)). It can be seen from the authorities that the general rule might not apply for example where there has been a failure to recover the amount claimed, where there are sanctions or where the claim is struck out for being disproportionate. The general rule will also not apply in the specific circumstances set out in CPR 44.2(3). In addition, the court will be prepared to depart from the general rule when it is not in fact clear who is the winning party. For guidance, see Practice Notes: Costs orders—the general rule and Costs orders—the court's discretion.

Costs—recovery of costs under contractual

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

Powered by Lexis+®
Latest Dispute Resolution News

The construction of jurisdiction clauses in the context of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 and the mechanisms of service(Campeau v Gottex Real Asset Fund 1 (OE) Waste S.À.R.L)

Dispute Resolution analysis: This case considers a jurisdictional clause in the context of service under CPR 6.33(2B)(b), which allows service out of the jurisdiction where the defendant is party to a jurisdiction clause. There is no corresponding requirement for the claimant to be a party to that jurisdiction clause. The starting point is that jurisdiction clauses are not generally intended to concern disputes with third parties. However, that is no more than a starting point and one which can be departed from in appropriate cases. This was one such appropriate case whereby the circumstances and construction of the clause led to the finding that it did include the third party claimant’s (Mr Campeau) claim. While not strictly necessary given the judge’s findings in relation to the construction of the clause, Mr Justice Butcher considered that, where a jurisdictional clause was wide enough to encompass disputes from third parties, then it will likely also amount to a ‘relevant term’ for the purposes of section 1(4) of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (C(RTP)A 1999). That meant that the third party, in seeking to enforce their rights under the SPA, was statutorily obliged to do so in England and so could rely upon CPR 6.33 (2B) (b) in that respect also. Written by Georgia Whiting, legal counsel (contentious construction) at Capita.

View Dispute Resolution by content type :

Popular documents