55Determination of costs of reviews

55 Determination of costs of reviews

55 Determination of costs of reviews

(1) For the Act, section 93(1)(b)(v), a review panel—

(a) must require the party that made a party review application to pay the costs of the review if—

(i) the panel affirms the costs assessor’s determination, or

(ii) the panel sets aside and substitutes the costs assessor’s determination with a determination that—

(A) is favourable to the party who made the party review application, but

(B) increases or decreases the total costs payable, as assessed by the costs assessor, by less than 15%, and

(b) in all other circumstances, may—

(i) require a party to a review to pay the costs of a review, or

(ii) determine the costs of a review be apportioned between the parties to the review in a way the panel considers appropriate.

(2) For subsection (1)(b), a review panel may have regard to the following matters—

(a) the extent to which the determination of the amount of fair and reasonable costs differs from the amount claimed in the party review application,

(b) whether, in the panel’s opinion, the parties to the review made a genuine attempt to agree on the amount of fair and reasonable costs,

(c) whether, in the panel’s opinion, a party to the review unnecessarily delayed the determination of the review.