S.I. No. 315/1970 - District Court (Costs) Rules, 1970.

S.I. No. 315 of 1970.

DISTRICT COURT (COSTS) RULES, 1970.

The District Court Rules Committee, in exercise of the powers conferred on them by section 91 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 , section 72 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1936 , section 17 of the Interpretation Act, 1937 , and section 48 of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961 , and with the concurrence of the Minister for Justice, do hereby make the following Rules: —

1. These Rules may be cited as the District Court (Costs) Rules, 1970.

2. These Rules shall come into operation on the 15th day of February, 1971, and shall be read together with all other District Court Rules for the time being in force.

3. The Scales of Costs set out in the Schedules hereto shall be substituted for those set out in the Schedules of Costs annexed to the District Court (Costs) Rules, 1964, ( S.I. No. 279 of 1964 ).

Dated this 9th day of December, 1970.

Cathal Ó Floinn, Chairman

Denis P. O'Donovan

John Carr

Donnchadh Ua Donnchadha

Cyril Maguire

Richard Knight

Gerard Clarke

Andrew Eddery

I concur in the making of the foregoing Rules.

Dated this 11th day of December, 1970.

DESMOND O'MALLEY,

Minister for Justice.

SCHEDULE OF COSTS.

SOLICITORS' COSTS IN SUMMARY JUDGMENT PROCEEDINGS.

Amount due at the date of issue of civil process				If amount due is paid within ten days of service of civil process	If amount due is not paid within ten days of service of civil process
				£	£
Not exceeding £2 ...				0·28	0·56
Exceeding £2 and not exceeding £5				0·42	1·15
,,	£5 ,, ,,	,,	£10 ...	0·70	1·54
,,	£10 ,,,,	,,	£25 ...	1·12	2·10
,,	£25 ,,,,	,,	£50 ...	1·68	3·08
,,	£50 ,,,,	,,	£75 ...	2·52	4·31
,,	£75 ,,,,	,,	£100 ...	2·66	4·62

The above Scale of Costs shall in every instance be exclusive of and in addition to all actual and necessary outlay.

If the Civil Process is defended the costs of the successful party shall be in accordance with the appropriate contract and breach of contract scale.

SCHEDULE OF COSTS.

SOLICITORS' COSTS IN CONTRACT AND BREACH OF CONTRACT PROCEEDINGS.

Amount due at the date of issue of civil process, and in case of dismiss the amount sued for				Settled before entry	Costs of decree if case not defended	Costs of decree if case defended	Costs of Dismiss
				£.	£	£	£
Not exceeding £2 ... ... ... ... ... ...				0·28	0·70	0·87	0·87
Exceeding £2 and not exceeding £5 ... ... ...				0·42	1·54	1·82	1·68
,,	£5 ,, ,,	,,	£10 ... ... ...	0·70	2·24	2·66	2·52
,,	£10 ,, ,,	,,	£25 ... ... ...	1·12	3·08	3·64	3·36
,,	£25 ,, ,,	,,	£50 ... ... ...	1·68	4·76	7·00	6·44
,,	£50 ,, ,,	,,	£75 ... ... ...	2·52	6·13	8·37	8·09
,,	£75 ,, ,,	,,	£100 ... ... ...	2·66	6·61	9·13	8·85

The above Scale of Costs shall in every instance be exclusive of and in addition to all actual and necessary outlay.

SCHEDULE OF COSTS.

SOLICITORS' COSTS IN TORT PROCEEDINGS.

Sum awarded, and in case of a dismiss the claim				Settled before entry	Costs of decree if case not defended	Costs of decree if case defended	Costs of Dismiss
				£.	£	£	£
Not exceeding £2 ... ... ... ... ... ...				0·28	1·09	1·37	1·26
Exceeding £2 and not exceeding £10 ... ... ...				0·98	2·52	2·94	2·66
,,	£10 ,, ,,	,,	£25 ... ... ...	1·40	4·20	7·00	6·72
,,	£25 ,, ,,	,,	£50 ... ... ...	1·96	5·88	9·24	8·96

The above Scale of Costs shall in every instance be exclusive of and in addition to all actual and necessary outlay.

SCHEDULE OF COSTS.

SOLICITORS' COSTS IN EJECTMENT PROCEEDINGS INSTITUTED BY CIVIL PROCESS.

Annual Rent	Settled before entry	Costs of decree if case not defended	Costs of decree if case defended	Costs of Dismiss
	£.	£	£	£
*Not exceeding £27 ... ... ...	1·26	2·80	3·50	2·94
Exceeding £27 and not exceeding £53 ...	1·68	5·32	6·30	5·74

The above Scale of Costs shall in every instance be exclusive of and in addition to all actual and necessary outlay.

The above Scale of Costs shall not apply to ejectment proceedings brought before the Court on summons pursuant to the provisions of section 15 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Act, 1851, section 10 of the Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1871, or section 81, 84, 85 or 86 of the Landlord and Tenant (Ireland) Act, 1860. In such proceedings costs shall be in the discretion of the Justice and shall not exceed £2·57 in any case, unless the Justice for special reason shall otherwise order.

*The above Scale of Costs shall apply to ejectment proceedings brought before the Court by civil process pursuant to the provisions of section 82 of the Civil Bill Courts (Ireland) Act, 1851, as applied to the District Court by section 17 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1928 .

SCHEDULE OF COSTS.

SOLICITORS' COSTS IN PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE ENFORCEMENT OF COURT ORDERS ACTS, 1926 AND 1940.

COSTS IN RELATION TO INSTALMENT ORDERS.

Amount due				Costs
				£
Not exceeding £5 ... ... ... ... ... ...					1·17
Exceeding £5 and not exceeding £10 ... ... ...					1·76
,,	£10 ,, ,,	,,	£25 ... ... ...		2·94
,,	£25 ,, ,,	,,	£50 ... ... ...		3·53
,,	£50 ,, ,,	,,	£100 ... ... ...		4·71
,,	£100,, ,, ... ... ... ... ... ...	,,			5·88 or such greater sum as the Court shall think proper.

The above Scale of Costs shall in every instance be exclusive of and in addition to all actual and necessary outlay.

SCHEDULE OF COSTS.

SOLICITORS' COSTS IN SUMMARY PROCEEDINGS BROUGHT BY SUMMONS FOR THE RECOVERY OF RATES.

Amount sued for				Costs before hearing	Costs after hearing
				£	£
Not exceeding £2 ... ... ... .				0·31	0·59
Exceeding £2 and not exceeding £5 ...				0·40	1·12
,,	£5 ,, ,,	,,	£10 ...	0·59	1·48
,,	£10 ,, ,,	,,	£25 ...	0·98	2·07
,,	£25 ,, ,,	,,	£50 ...	1·12	2·52
,,	£50 ,, ,,	,,	£100 ...	1·26	3·08
,,	£100 ... ... ... ...			1·40	4·20

The above Scale of Costs shall in every instance be exclusive of and in addition to all actual and necessary outlay.

SCHEDULE OF COSTS.

PROCEEDINGS FOR DETINUE.

In actions for wrongful detention brought by virtue of section 33, subsection (3) of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961, the costs awarded shall be on the Tort Scale according to the value of the goods as determined by the Court. This provision shall not apply to proceedings for wrongful detention arising out of a hire purchase transaction, in which proceedings the costs shall be in accordance with the Contract Scale.

PROCEEDINGS BY GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS.

The Costs of Decree in the foregoing Scale of Costs in the case of an ordinary civil process shall apply to any proceeding at the suit of the Attorney General or any Minister of State or Government Department.

ACTIONS TRANSFERRED FROM THE HIGH COURT TO THE DISTRICT COURT.

A plaintiff in succeeding in such action shall be entitled to no greater costs than would have been allowed him under the foregoing Scales if the suit had been instituted in the District Court. A successful defendant will be entitled, in addition to the Scales of Costs set out above, to a minimum sum of £9·41 or such greater sum as the Justice may in the circumstances think fit.

SCHEDULE OF COSTS.

COUNSEL'S FEES.

The Court shall have discretion as to the award of Counsel's fees and the scale hereunder is intended to operate in those cases where the Court considers it proper that Counsel should have been employed.

A. In any defended case of contract, or breach of contract, or tort:

To plaintiff's Counsel when the amount recovered, or to defendant's Counsel when the amount claimed,

		£
(i)	does not exceed £25	2·10
(ii)	exceeds £25, but does not exceed £50	3·15
(iii)	exceeds £50	4·20

B. In any defended ejectment for overholding or non-payment of rent:

	To plaintiff's or defendant's Counsel when the annual rent
		£
(i)	does not exceed £27 ... ... ... ... ... ...	2·10
(ii)	exceeds £27 ... ... ... ... ... ...	3·15

C. The above Scale of fees shall not be applicable to an Ejectment proceeding brought under any Summary Jurisdiction in which case Counsel's fee, if allowed, shall be £1·05.

D. The allowance of Counsel's fees in proceedings under the Rent Restrictions Act, 1960 , shall be in the discretion of the Justice.

SCHEDULE OF COSTS.

MISCELLANEOUS COSTS.

	£
Drawing each additional copy of a civil process necessarily served after the first ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...	0·23
Drawing witness summons and copies thereof, attending at District Court Office for the purpose of issuing same and correspondence as to service ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...	0·56
Attendance in Court, not otherwise provided for, where allowed by the Justice, not exceeding ... ... ... ... ... ...	0·84

The above Scale of Costs shall be chargeable in addition to the charges in the other Scales in this Schedule.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

These Rules, which come into operation on 15th February, 1971, provide for the restating, in Decimal Currency, of the scales of solicitors' costs set out in the Schedule to the District Court (Costs) Rules, 1964.