Costs Management Consultation

The Civil Procedure and Rules Committee have launched a public consultation into costs budgeting and costs management.

A sub-committee chaired by Coulson J will meet on 10 and 16 July 2013 to consider:

• the desirability of retaining the Admiralty and Commercial Courts’ blanket exception to the mandatory requirement to produce costs budgets at CPR Part 3.12(1)
• the current value-based exception for the TCC, the Chancery Division and the Mercantile Courts; and
• whether or to what extent Part 8 claims (including Judicial Review) should be excluded from the mandatory costs budgeting regime.

The sub-committed will also consider whether any other claims currently within the mandatory costs budgeting regime should be exempted. The aim is to produce a new definitive rule for inclusion in the CPR to replace the existing rule 3.12(1) with its reference to exemptions from mandatory costs budgeting as defined in directions made by the President of the Queen’s Bench Division and the Chancellor of the High Court.

Particiapation is invited and the closing date for written representations is 20 July 2013.

See the Consultation Paper.