109Power to award costs

109 Power to award costs (1) Subject to this Division, each party is to bear their own costs in the proceeding. (2) At any time, the Tribunal may order that a party pay all or a specified part of the costs of another party in a proceeding. (3) The Tribunal may make an order under subsection (2) only if satisfied that it is fair to do so, having regard to— (a) whether a party has conducted the proceeding in a way that unnecessarily disadvantaged another party to the proceeding by conduct such as— (i) failing to comply with an order or direction of the Tribunal without reasonable excuse; (ii) failing to comply with this Act, the regulations, the rules or an enabling enactment; (iii) asking for an adjournment as a result of (i) or (ii); (iv) causing an adjournment; (v) attempting to deceive another party or the Tribunal; (vi) vexatiously conducting the proceeding; (b) whether a party has been responsible for prolonging unreasonably the time taken to complete the proceeding; (c) the relative strengths of the claims made by each of the parties, including whether a party has made a claim that has no tenable basis in fact or law; (d) the nature and complexity of the proceeding; (e) any other matter the Tribunal considers relevant. (4) If the Tribunal considers that the representative of a party, rather than the party, is responsible for conduct described in subsection (3)(a) or (b), the Tribunal may order that the representative in his or her own capacity compensate another party for any costs incurred unnecessarily. (5) Before making an order under subsection (4), the Tribunal must give the representative a reasonable opportunity to be heard. (6) If the Tribunal makes an order for costs before the end of a proceeding, the Tribunal may require that the order be complied with before it continues with the proceeding. S. 109(7) inserted by No. 62/2014 s. 34. (7) A power of the Tribunal under this section is exercisable by any member. Note to s. 109 inserted by No. 78/2008 s. 18. See section 17D(1)(b) to (d) of the **Supreme Court Act 1986**.