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 management orders: mapping former Practice Direction 3E to 1 October 2020 CPR and PD changes (England and Wales)

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Practice notes

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived, and is no longer maintained.

This Practice Note summarises and collates the paragraphs from the old Practice Direction 3E concerning costs management orders and indicates the corresponding new or existing provisions in cpr PD 3E that superseded them on 1 October 2020 under both the Civil Procedure (amendment No 3) rules 2020, SI 2020/747, and the 122nd Update—Practice Direction Amendments.

Previous practice direction provision, existing or new rule, and comment:

Practice Direction 3E, para 7.1: Where costs budgets are filed and exchanged, the court would ordinarily and usually make a costs management order under rule 3.15. If such an order is made under rule 3.15, the following paragraphs then apply where appropriate.
Existing rule: CPR 3.15(2): Where costs budgets have been filed and exchanged, the court will make a costs management order unless it is satisfied the litigation can be run justly and at proportionate cost, in line with the overriding objective, without making such an order. The guidance in the practice direction had become redundant, as CPR 3.15(2) already covered it accordingly.
Practice Direction 3E, para 7.2: Save in exceptional circumstances— (a) the recoverable costs of initially completing Precedent H shall not exceed...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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