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Section 27:
Taxing the other side's costs
Proposal 57
The exceptional treatment given to counsel's fees on party and party taxations, as provided
for by para 2(5) of Pt II of the 1st Schedule to Order 62 of the RHC should be deleted.
Interim Report paras 605-607
Where a party ("the paying party") who is ordered to pay the costs of the other party
("the receiving party") seeks to challenge the incurring or the amount of particular
items in the receiving party's bill of costs, he may seek a taxation of those costs before
the taxing master.
The criteria used by the taxing master to tax down the receiving party's costs depends
on the nature of the costs order made by the court. Three "bases" of taxation exist,
namely, the "party and party", "common fund" and "indemnity" bases. The usual
order is for party and party costs. Common fund and indemnity costs each allow for a
more generous basis of taxation vis-à-vis the receiving party, as set out in the Table
below.
However, para 2(5) of Pt II of the 1st Schedule to Order 62 ("para 2(5)") lays down a
special criterion for the taxation of counsel's fees. It provides :-
"Every fee paid to counsel shall be allowed in full on taxation, unless the taxing master is
satisfied that the same is excessive and unreasonable ......"
If the fees are found to be excessive and unreasonable, the taxing master is to exercise
his discretion having regard to all the relevant circumstances, particularly certain
discretionary factors set out in paragraph 1(2) of the same Schedule.
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