The Civil Procedure Rules 1998

[F1 SECTION II E+W Costs Payable by one Party to another – Commencement of Detailed Assessment Proceedings

Textual Amendments

F1 Pts. 44-48 substituted (1.4.2013) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2013 (S.I. 2013/262), rules 2, 16, Sch. (with rule 22)

Application of this Section E+W

47.5.   This Section of Part 47 applies where a cost officer is to make a detailed assessment of—

(a) costs which are payable by one party to another; or

(b) the sum which is payable by one party to the prescribed charity pursuant to an order under section 194(3) of the 2007 Act.

Commencement of detailed assessment proceedings E+W

47.6.— (1) Detailed assessment proceedings are commenced by the receiving party serving on the paying party—

(a) notice of commencement in the relevant practice form; F2 ...

(b) [F3 a copy or copies of the bill of costs, as required by Practice Direction 47; and]

(c) [F4 if required by Practice Direction 47,] a breakdown of the costs claimed for each phase of the proceedings

(Rule 47.7 sets out the period for commencing detailed assessment proceedings.)

(2) The receiving party must also serve a copy of the notice of commencement [F5 , the bill and, [F6 if required by Practice Direction 47,] the breakdown] on any other relevant persons specified in Practice Direction 47.

(3) A person on whom a copy of the notice of commencement is served under paragraph (2) is a party to the detailed assessment proceedings (in addition to the paying party and the receiving party).

( Practice Direction 47 deals with—

• other documents which the party must file when requesting detailed assessment;

• the court’s powers where it considers that a hearing may be necessary;

• the form of a bill; and

• the length of notice which will be given if a hearing date is fixed.)

[F7 (Paragraphs 7B.2 to 7B.7 of the Practice Direction - Civil Recovery Proceedings contain provisions about detailed assessment of costs in relation to civil recovery orders.)]

Textual Amendments

F2 Word in rule 47.6(1)(a) omitted (1.10.2015) by virtue of The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 4) Rules 2015 (S.I. 2015/1569), rules 1(2), 8(a)

F3 Rule 47.6(1)(b) substituted (1.10.2017) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2017 (S.I. 2017/889), rules 1(1), 5(a)(i)

F4 Words in rule 47.6(1)(c) substituted (1.10.2017) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2017 (S.I. 2017/889), rules 1(1), 5(a)(ii)

F5 Words in rule 47.6(2) substituted (6.4.2016) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2016 (S.I. 2016/234), rules 2, 10

F6 Words in rule 47.6(2) substituted (1.10.2017) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2017 (S.I. 2017/889), rules 1(1), 5(b)

F7 Words in rule 47.6 inserted (31.7.2013) by The Civil Procedure (Amendment No.6) Rules 2013 (S.I. 2013/1695), rules 2, 8

Period for commencing detailed assessment proceedings E+W

47.7.   The following table shows the period for commencing detailed assessment proceedings.

Source of right to detailed assessment	Time by which detailed assessment proceedings must be commenced
Judgment, direction, order, award or other determination	3 months after the date of the judgment etc. Where detailed assessment is stayed pending an appeal, 3 months after the date of the order lifting the stay
Discontinuance under Part 38	3 months after the date of service of notice of discontinuance under rule 38.3; or 3 months after the date of the dismissal of application to set the notice of discontinuance aside under rule 38.4
Acceptance of an offer to settle under Part 36	3 months after the date when the right to costs arose

Sanction for delay in commencing detailed assessment proceedings E+W

47.8.— (1) Where the receiving party fails to commence detailed assessment proceedings within the period specified—

(a) in rule 47.7; or

(b) by any direction of the court,

the paying party may apply for an order requiring the receiving party to commence detailed assessment proceedings within such time as the court may specify.

(2) On an application under paragraph (1), the court may direct that, unless the receiving party commences detailed assessment proceedings within the time specified by the court, all or part of the costs to which the receiving party would otherwise be entitled will be disallowed.

(3) If—

(a) the paying party has not made an application in accordance with paragraph (1); and

(b) the receiving party commences the proceedings later than the period specified in rule 47.7,

the court may disallow all or part of the interest otherwise payable to the receiving party under—

(i) section 17 of the Judgments Act 1838; or

(ii) section 74 of the County Courts Act 1984,

but will not impose any other sanction except in accordance with rule 44.11 (powers in relation to misconduct).

(4) Where the costs to be assessed in a detailed assessment are payable out of the Community Legal Service Fund, this rule applies as if the receiving party were the solicitor to whom the costs are payable and the paying party were the Legal Services Commission.

[F8 (5) Where the costs to be assessed in a detailed assessment are payable by the Lord Chancellor under Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, this rule applies as if the receiving party were the solicitor to whom the costs are payable and the paying party were the Lord Chancellor.]

Textual Amendments

F8 Rule 47.8(5) inserted (1.4.2013) by The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (Consequential, Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/534), reg. 1, Sch. para. 2(b) (with reg. 14(4))

Points of dispute and consequence of not serving E+W

47.9.— (1) The paying party and any other party to the detailed assessment proceedings may dispute any item in the bill of costs by serving points of dispute on—

(a) the receiving party; and

(b) every other party to the detailed assessment proceedings.

(2) The period for serving points of dispute is 21 days after the date of service of the notice of commencement.

(3) If a party serves points of dispute after the period set out in paragraph (2), that party may not be heard further in the detailed assessment proceedings unless the court gives permission.

(Practice Direction 47 sets out requirements about the form of points of dispute.)

(4) The receiving party may file a request for a default costs certificate if—

(a) the period set out in paragraph (2) for serving points of dispute has expired; and

(b) the receiving party has not been served with any points of dispute.

(5) If any party (including the paying party) serves points of dispute before the issue of a default costs certificate the court may not issue the default costs certificate.

(Section IV of this Part sets out the procedure to be followed after points of dispute have been served.)

Procedure where costs are agreed E+W

47.10.— (1) If the paying party and the receiving party agree the amount of costs, either party may apply for a costs certificate (either interim or final) in the amount agreed.

(Rule 47.16 and rule 47.17 contain further provisions about interim and final costs certificates respectively)

(2) An application for a certificate under paragraph (1) must be made to the court which would be the venue for detailed assessment proceedings under rule 47.4.]