What are costs?

The court may order any party to pay money to another party, or to the Crown, to help them recoup some of the money they spent during the appeal.

The court has the discretion to decide whether it is reasonable to impose costs, and to determine the amount.

The court only awards costs if a party applies for them. See How do I apply for costs?

• Payments to lawyers and other representatives
• Payments to expert witnesses.
• Environment Court fees for lodging an appeal.
• Administrative costs such as photocopying.
• Travel expenses for witnesses and lawyers.

The court may award costs to any party of the proceedings to compensate for unnecessary costs incurred as a result of the actions of other parties.

‘Award costs’ means the Judge orders one party to make a payment to another party.

There are two types of costs:

1. Full costs – a party is awarded the full cost incurred in a hearing. For instance, someone may be ordered to pay all the solicitor’s bills for the other party (known as solicitor and clients’ costs). This is unusual but may happen when a party fails to comply with a court order, acts in contempt of the court, or in other exceptional circumstances.
2. Reasonable costs – this is more common. The court assesses what costs are reasonable, based on the circumstances of the case. One party is ordered to pay this sum to another. This will not be full reimbursement of costs, but may cover some expenses – see Examples of costs.