Rule 46.6 Costs where the court has made a group litigation orderF1

This rule applies where the court has made a Group Litigation Order (“GLO”).

In this rule—

• “individual costs” means costs incurred in relation to an individual claim on the group register;

• “common costs” means—

  1. (i)

     costs incurred in relation to the GLO issues;

  2. (ii)

     individual costs incurred in a claim while it is proceeding as a test claim, and

  3. (iii)

     costs incurred by the lead legal representative in administering the group litigation; and

• ‘group litigant’ means a claimant or defendant, as the case may be, whose claim is entered on the group register.

Unless the court orders otherwise, any order for common costs against group litigants imposes on each group litigant several liability for an equal proportion of those common costs.

The general rule is that a group litigant who is the paying party will, in addition to any liability to pay the receiving party, be liable for—

Where the court makes an order about costs in relation to any application or hearing which involved—

the court will direct the proportion of the costs that is to relate to common costs and the proportion that is to relate to individual costs.

Where common costs have been incurred before a claim is entered on the group register, the court may order the group litigant to be liable for a proportion of those costs.

Where a claim is removed from the group register, the court may make an order for costs in that claim which includes a proportion of the common costs incurred up to the date on which the claim is removed from the group register.