Lodgment of Costs

Lodgment or Tender of Costs

In any application for adjudication of costs by a person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or by a legal practitioner, the person who is the subject of the order to pay costs or the client may within 21 days of the service upon him of the application, or at any later time by leave of a Legal Costs Adjudicator, upon notice to the party obliged to pay costs or, as the case may be, the legal practitioner concerned, pay into Court a sum of money in satisfaction of the claim for costs

Where a lodgment in satisfaction of costs is made, the notice of lodgment in satisfaction of costs shall specify the sum paid in in respect of each of the following (inclusive of Value Added Tax, where applicable):

• the costs of any firm of solicitors;
• the costs of any barrister, and
• the total amount of disbursements or outlay (other than in respect of legal practitioners’ fees) claimed, and the total amount so paid in.

A party obliged to pay costs or, as the case may be, a legal practitioner, upon whom a notice of lodgment in satisfaction of costs is served shall serve a copy of the notice of lodgment in satisfaction of costs on each legal practitioner for whose firm or for whom an amount for costs is specified in the notice of lodgment in satisfaction of costs.

Procedural

The notice of lodgment in satisfaction of costs shall be in the Form No. 5 in Part V of Appendix W, with any necessary modifications, and shall be filed in the Legal Costs Adjudicators’ Office but shall not be disclosed to the Legal Costs Adjudicator until the proceedings on the application for adjudication of costs have been finally determined.

Where a lodgment in satisfaction of costs is made the person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or, as the case may be, the legal practitioner, may, within 14 days of the receipt of notice of lodgment in satisfaction of costs, or within such further period as may be agreed by the parties, accept the sum in satisfaction of the costs by giving notice to the party liable to pay the costs, in the Form No. 6 in Part V of Appendix W, with any necessary modifications; and thereupon he shall be entitled to receive payment of the accepted sum in satisfaction.

Payment shall be made to the person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or on his written authority to his solicitor or, as the case may be, to the legal practitioner concerned, and thereupon proceedings on the adjudication or in respect of the adjudication of the costs shall be stayed.

If the money paid in is not taken out, the said money shall not be paid out except in satisfaction of the costs in respect of which it was paid in and in pursuance of a certificate of the Legal Costs Adjudicator.

Not Beating Lodgment

If the person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or, as the case may be, the legal practitioner, does not accept the sum so paid in but proceeds with the adjudication in respect of such costs and is not determined to be due more than the amount paid into Court, then the following provisions shall apply:

If the amount paid into Court exceeds the amount determined to be due for costs to the person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or, as the case may be, the legal practitioner, the excess shall be repaid to the person who is the subject of the order to pay costs or, as the case may be, the client, and the balance shall be retained in Court.

The person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or, as the case may be, the legal practitioner shall be entitled to the costs of the adjudication up to the time when such payment into Court was made.

The person who is the subject of the order to pay costs or, as the case may be, the client, shall be entitled to the costs of the adjudication from the time such payment into Court was made.

Set-Off & Balance

The costs mentioned above shall be set off against each other, and:

• if the balance is in favour of the person who is the subject of the order to pay costs or, as the case may be, the client, the amount thereof shall be satisfied pro tanto out of the money remaining in Court and, in so far as the money remaining in Court is not sufficient to satisfy the same, shall be recoverable from the person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or, as the case may be, the legal practitioner, or
• if the balance is in favour of the person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or, as the case may be, the legal practitioner, the amount thereof shall be recoverable from the person who is the subject of the order to pay costs or, as the case may be, the client.

Any money remaining in Court after satisfying the balance (if any) due to the person who is the subject of the order to pay costs or, as the case may be, the client, for costs as aforesaid shall be paid out to the person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or, as the case may be, the legal practitioner.

If in any case the Legal Costs Adjudicator is of opinion that for the purposes of the preceding rule it is not necessary to retain in Court the whole of the balance he may direct the payment out to the person in whose favour the order to pay costs has been made or, as the case may be, the legal practitioner, of so much thereof as he deems proper.

Government Body Tender

A “qualified” party is  a Minister of Government, the Government, the State, or an Where a qualified party is entitled to make a lodgment in satisfaction of costs under , then such party may, in lieu of lodging any money in Court, make an offer of tender of payment in satisfaction of costs to the other party or parties to the cause or proceedings (in this rule, a “tender in satisfaction of costs”).

Any tender in satisfaction of costs made shall be deemed to be a lodgment in satisfaction of costs and to have the same effect as a lodgment in satisfaction of costs and  the provisions of the rules apply to such tender in satisfaction of costs as regards time for making and accepting same as they apply to a lodgment in satisfaction of costs.

Tender Procedure & Acceptance

A tender in satisfaction of costs shall be made in accordance with the Form No. 5 in Part V of Appendix W, with the necessary modifications. Notice of acceptance of a tender in satisfaction of costs shall be in the Form No. 6 in Part V of Appendix W, with the necessary modifications, and the provisions of rule 58 shall apply thereto.

Where a tender in satisfaction of costs has been accepted, the party having made the tender in satisfaction of costs thereupon being required to pay the sum specified, such sum specified shall be paid within four weeks of the date of receipt of notice of acceptance of same.

Any qualified party who has made a tender in satisfaction of costs which has been accepted but who has failed to pay the sum specified in the said tender in satisfaction of costs within the time required shall continue to be liable to pay the sum specified together with interest thereon at the rate fixed for judgments of the Court for each month or portion of the month for which the said sum or any part thereof remains unpaid.