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...

Archived: Costs Budgeting and Management Pilot (CPR PD 51G) in the TCC and Mercantile Courts, England and Wales – budgets, revisions, orders and reports, 2009–2013

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Practice notes

This Practice Note is archived and retained for reference only, as the pilot scheme concluded on 31 March 2013. For further detail on Costs budgeting, see: Costs budgeting and costs management—overview.

What is this?

The Commercial Court costs pilot scheme (the Scheme) was created to control the expense of proceedings in line with the overriding objective in CPR 1.1, with its provisions contained in CPR PD 51G. Parties were required to prepare a costs budget (Costs Budget) before the first CMC and to keep it updated throughout the case. The court would then actively oversee the case’s costs in accordance with the overriding objective, approving or refusing any proposed amendments to the Costs Budget. Where appropriate, approval could be given by issuing a Costs Management Order. For a comparable costs control initiative in Defamation claims, see Defamation costs pilot scheme [Archived].

When and where is the scheme running?

The Scheme began in August 2009 in the Birmingham TCC and Mercantile courts, introduced as part of Lord Justice Jackson’s review of civil litigation costs...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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