Courts Act, 1981

Limitation on amount of plaintiff's costs in certain proceedings.

17.—(1) In any action of tort or of breach of promise of marriage commenced and heard in the High Court, being an action where the amount of the damages recovered by the plaintiff exceeds £2,500 but does not exceed £7,500, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to recover more costs than whichever of the following amounts is the lesser, that is to say, the amount of such damages or the amount of costs which he would have been entitled to recover if the action had been commenced in the Circuit Court, unless the judge hearing the action grants a special certificate under this section.

(2) In any action for the recovery of a liquidated sum, being an action where the amount recovered by the plaintiff exceeds £2,500 but does not exceed £7,500, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to recover more costs than he would have been entitled to recover if the action had been commenced in the Circuit Court.

(3) In any action for the recovery of a liquidated sum, being an action where the amount recovered by the plaintiff does not exceed £2,500, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to recover more costs than he would have been entitled to recover if the action had been commenced in the District Court.

(4) Where an order is made by a court in favour of the plaintiff or applicant in any proceedings (other than an action specified in subsections (1) to (3) of this section) and the court in which the proceedings were commenced is not the lowest court having jurisdiction to make an order granting the relief (which expression includes in this section damages) the subject of the order, the plaintiff shall not be entitled to recover more costs than he would have been entitled to recover if the proceedings had been commenced in the said lowest court unless the order is made by a judge and the judge grants a special certificate under this section.

(5) Where a judge hears any action referred to in subsection (1) of this section or makes an order of the kind referred to in subsection (4) of this section, he may, on the application of the plaintiff or applicant in the proceedings made immediately upon the determination of the hearing relating to the action or order, grant a special certificate in writing that, in the opinion of such judge, it was reasonable in the interests of justice generally, owing to the exceptional; nature of the proceedings or of any question of law contained therein, that the proceedings should have been commenced in the court in which they were commenced.

(6) It shall not be lawful for rules of court to contain or impose any restriction on the amount of the costs recoverable by any party from any other party in any action or other proceeding, but nothing in this subsection shall prevent the insertion in rules of court of a restriction on the amount of the costs recoverable which is identical with a restriction imposed by this section nor the fixing by rules of court of the amount recoverable by any person as and for the costs and expenses incurred by him in the doing of any specified thing in any particular form of action or other proceeding.