120Costs of parties

120 Costs of parties

[Section 120 Inserted by No. 17 of 2021, s. 18, Applied:05 Nov 2021]

(1)  Unless otherwise specified in this Act, a relevant Act, regulations under a relevant Act or an order of the Tribunal under this section, parties bear their own costs in any proceedings before the Tribunal.

(2)  Unless otherwise specified in a relevant Act or regulations under a relevant Act, the Tribunal may make an order for the payment by a party to proceedings of all or any of the costs of another party to the proceedings, or of a person required to appear before the Tribunal or to produce evidentiary material, if the Tribunal considers that it is appropriate to do so after taking into account –

(a) the main objectives of the Tribunal that are relevant to simplifying proceedings and issues before the Tribunal and to keeping costs to parties in proceedings to a minimum insofar as is just and appropriate; and

(b) the need to ensure that proceedings are fair and that parties are not disadvantaged by proceedings that have little or no merit; and

(c) any provision made by the Tribunal rules or the regulations under a relevant Act; and

(d) any other matter considered relevant by the Tribunal.

(3)  Subsections (2) and (4) do not apply in relation to proceedings in the Mental Health stream or in the Guardianship stream.

(4)  Without limiting subsection (2) , if the Tribunal dismisses or strikes out any proceedings in any prescribed circumstances, the Tribunal should also make an order for costs against the party against whom the action is directed, unless the Tribunal is of the opinion that there is a good reason for not making an order in the circumstances of the particular case.

(5)  If the Tribunal makes an order for the payment of costs and does not fix the amount of costs, that amount is to be assessed and settled in accordance with the Tribunal rules, or regulations under a relevant Act, that make provision in relation to such costs.