Legal Services Regulation Act 2015

169

Costs to follow event

169. (1) A party who is entirely successful in civil proceedings is entitled to an award of costs against a party who is not successful in those proceedings, unless the court orders otherwise, having regard to the particular nature and circumstances of the case, and the conduct of the proceedings by the parties, including—

(a) conduct before and during the proceedings,

(b) whether it was reasonable for a party to raise, pursue or contest one or more issues in the proceedings,

(c) the manner in which the parties conducted all or any part of their cases,

(d) whether a successful party exaggerated his or her claim,

(e) whether a party made a payment into court and the date of that payment,

(f) whether a party made an offer to settle the matter the subject of the proceedings, and if so, the date, terms and circumstances of that offer, and

(g) where the parties were invited by the court to settle the claim (whether by mediation or otherwise) and the court considers that one or more than one of the parties was or were unreasonable in refusing to engage in the settlement discussions or in mediation.

(2) Where the court orders that a party who is entirely successful in civil proceedings is not entitled to an award of costs against a party who is not successful in those proceedings, it shall give reasons for that order.

(3) Where a party succeeds against one or more than one of the parties to civil proceedings but not against all of them, the court may order, to the extent that the court considers that it is proper to do so in all the circumstances, that—

(a) the successful party pay any or all of the costs of the party against whom he or she has not succeeded, or

(b) the party or more than one of the parties against whom the successful party has succeeded pay not only the costs of the successful party but also any or all of the costs that the successful party is liable to pay under paragraph (a).

(4) Unless the court before which civil proceedings were commenced orders otherwise, or the parties to those proceedings agree otherwise, a party who discontinues or abandons the proceedings after they are commenced (including discontinuance or abandonment of an appeal) is liable to pay the reasonable costs of every other party who has incurred costs in the defence of the civil proceedings concerned until the discontinuance or abandonment.

(5) Nothing in this Part shall be construed as affecting section 50B of the Planning and Development Act 2000 or Part 2 of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011.

Annotations

Amendments:

F30

Substituted by Planning and Development Act 2024 (34/2024), s. 302(f), not commenced as of date of revision.

Modifications (not altering text):

C8

Prospective affecting provision: subs. (5) amended by Planning and Development Act 2024 (34/2024), s. 302(f), not commenced as of date of revision.

(5) Nothing in this Part shall be construed as affecting section 50B of the Planning and Development Act F30[2000, Part 2 of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2011 or Chapter 2 of Part 9 of the Planning and Development Act 2024].

...

C9

Application of section restricted by Planning and Development Act 2024 (34/2024), s. 293(1), not commenced as of date of revision.

293. (1) Notwithstanding section 169 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 and Order 99 of the Rules of the Superior Courts (S.I. No. 15 of 198), and subject to subsections (2), (3), (4) and (7) of section 298, each party (including a notice party) to proceedings to which this Chapter applies shall bear its own costs.

C10

Application of section restricted by Planning and Development Act 2024 (34/2024), s. 294(1), not commenced as of date of revision.

294. (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (4) of section 293, and notwithstanding section 169 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 and Order 99 of the Rules of the Superior Courts (S.I. No. 15 of 1986), the following shall be in accordance with the monetary amounts prescribed under subsection (2) in relation to each matter so prescribed:

(a) the costs awarded to an applicant, in respect of proceedings to which this Chapter applies and in which the applicant succeeds in obtaining relief;

(b) the contribution made from the environmental legal costs financial assistance mechanism to the costs of an applicant in relation to whom a determination under paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (3) of section 297 and under paragraph (b) or (c) of subsection (4) of section 297 is made, in respect of proceedings to which this Chapter applies and in which the applicant does not succeed in obtaining relief, or succeeds in obtaining relief only in part;

(c) the contribution made from the environmental legal costs financial assistance mechanism to the costs awarded to the applicant under subsection (7) of section 298.

...

C11

Application of section restricted by Personal Injuries Assessment Board Act 2003 (46/2003), s. 51A(3), as substituted (13.02.2023) by Personal Injuries Resolution Board Act 2022 (42/2022), s. 16(1)(a), S.I. No. 28 of 2023.

[Costs in proceedings where assessment not accepted by claimant.

51A.— ...

[(3) Subject to subsections (6) and (7) and notwithstanding section 169 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, if, as respects a relevant claim to which this section applies, a claimant brings proceedings in accordance with this Act, no award of costs nor any other order providing for payment of costs may be made in favour of the claimant where the amount of damages (if any) awarded on foot of, or accepted in settlement of, those proceedings does not exceed the amount of the assessment referred to in subsection (2).]

…]