Section 27: Taxing the other side's costs
The exceptional treatment given to counsel's fees on party and party taxations, as provided
Proposal 57 (for the abolition of a special rule governing taxation of counsel's fees) should
be adopted.
A rule should be introduced to enable offers similar to Part 36 offers under the CPR to be
made in the context of the taxation of costs.
The procedure for making sanctioned offers and payments should be extended to pending
costs taxations, save in relation to legally-aided parties.
Conditional upon benchmark costs being adopted, such benchmark costs should be taken to
represent the presumptive amounts allowable in a taxation of costs and pursuit of a taxation
process by a party who subsequently fails to secure an award for a higher amount in respect
of an item covered by a costs benchmark should be taken into account in determining the
incidence and quantum of the costs of the taxation process.
Proposal 59 (for use of benchmark costs as the presumptive amounts allowable in a taxation
of costs) should not be adopted, without prejudice to use of costs indications for guidance.
A procedure should be introduced to enable provisional taxations to be conducted on the
papers, at the court's discretion, subject to a party dissatisfied with any such provisional
taxation being entitled to require an oral hearing, but subject to possible costs sanctions if
he fails to do better at the hearing.
The court should have a general discretion to conduct provisional taxations on the papers,
with any party dissatisfied with the award being entitled to require an oral taxation hearing,
but subject to possible costs sanctions if he fails to do materially better at the hearing.