Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Costs definition

What does Costs mean? In litigation, costs are the legal fees, disbursements, court fees and VAT incurred in bringing, defending or appealing a claim, and the sums a court or tribunal may order one party to pay another for those liabilities. The concept is governed by procedural rules and case law rather than a single statutory definition: England and Wales (CPR 44–47), Northern Ireland (RCJ Ord 62), Scotland (where the equivalent term is expenses), and Ireland (Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 and the Legal Costs Adjudicators). The general approach is broadly consistent, subject to local terminology and procedure. Typical features include the discretionary rule...

Costs budgeting pilot schemes pre-2013: lessons learnt (Mercantile/TCC; Defamation), and the impact of Henry and Mitchell (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

ARCHIVED: As at 1 December 2013, this Practice Note was archived and is retained solely for historical reference. It is helpful for readers seeking to understand the costs budgeting pilot schemes that operated before 1 April 2013.

Purpose of the costs budgeting pilot schemes

Two pilot initiatives were undertaken to test how costs budgeting functioned in real cases.

Mercantile court pilot—this took place across all Mercantile and TCC courts as a voluntary programme. Monitoring was undertaken through questionnaires and telephone calls to assess its success in controlling expenditure and keeping clients apprised of the overall costs position. An interim review of its operation was issued in February 2012, albeit only a relatively small number of responses were received. A further report was produced by Fenwick Elliot in October 2012.
defamation pilot—this operated in the rcj and the Birmingham District Registry and covered claims in libel, slander and/or malicious falsehood. Participation was mandatory.

For additional detail on the pilot schemes and interim reports, see Related Documents.

What lessons were learnt—Mercantile court pilot scheme?...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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