Costs: an overview

by Practical Law Dispute Resolution

A Practice note providing an overview of costs in litigation, outlining the key principles and rules of general application found in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) and other statutes. This Practice note defines what constitutes legal costs and explains fundamental concepts including the "loser pays" rule, the court's wide discretion under section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, the indemnity principle, and the overriding objective to deal with cases at proportionate cost. It examines the primary costs framework within CPR 44 to 47, addressing at a high-level the general rules, fixed costs and the procedures for summary and detailed assessment. This Practice note also touches upon costs management, security for costs, and the basis of solicitor-client costs. Separate practice notes cover particular aspects of costs in litigation in more detail and there are other useful resources under the Practical Law Dispute Resolution Costs topic. For information on funding, see the Funding topic. Guidance on specialist costs law for specific litigation may be found in other Practical Law Practice areas.