Consultation on the Review of the Scale costs in the County Court in Northern Ireland.

On 8^th July 2024, the Northern Ireland County Court Rules Committee launched a consultation to review solicitor and Counsel scale costs in the County Court in Northern Ireland. The consultation closes on 2^nd September 2024.

The key issues under review are:-

• A proposal to increase the current scale costs by 23% across all bands to take into account the 23% rise in inflation measured by GDP Deflator, since the scale costs were last updated in 2018; https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2017/19/pdfs/nisr_20170019_en.pdf;
• Whether there should be a change in the number of bands and the width of the costs bands. The Committee proposes not to make any changes in this regard subject to responses;
• Whether a specific fee for attendance at Case Management Review Hearings should be introduced. The Committee proposes not to introduce a specific fee on the basis that introducing a fee has potential to cause an increase in the demand for such hearings which could result in disproportion in the cost of proceedings and the inefficient use of court resources and judicial time;
• Whether an uplift should be applied to scale costs where there are multiple Defendants. It is proposed that an automatic uplift will not be introduced in cases involving multiple Defendants but where a case is considered to be complex, there is a provision within the Rules for a Judge to award an uplift for complex cases (Order 55 Rule 11(2);
• An uplift of 32% to be applied to the current travel expenses entitlements based on the GDP Deflator model;
• Application of a fee of £75 for any necessary affidavit otherwise not provided for given that a well drafted affidavit is of value in a County Court claim;
• Whether the range of cases in which the discretionary uplift is available should be widened. Order 55 Rule 11 provides for Judges to have discretion to give a one third uplift in particular types of cases. There was a suggestion that this should include Repetitive Strain Type Injuries and Industrial Disease claims such as dermatitis and hearing loss. The Committee is of the view that widening the range of cases in which an uplift applies would risk negating the relative certainty that the scale costs bring; and
• A proposal to review the scale costs on a three year cycle in order to ensure that they are fair and reasonable.

At the end of the consultation period, it is aimed that a response summary will be published within three months of the end of the period i.e. by December 2024.

If the proposals come into effect this will lead to an overall increase in Plaintiff and Defence solicitors’ costs and Counsel’s fees in the County Court. This will in turn increase the overall cost of County Court claims which will necessitate higher claims reserves.

*This information is for guidance purposes only and does not constitute, nor should be regarded, as a substitute for taking legal advice that is tailored to your circumstances.

If you would like any further information on the issues raised in this article, please contact Enya McKenna or a member of our Defence Insurance Litigation team.