Amos v Monsour Legal Costs P/L

[2007] QCA 235

Queensland Court of Appeal

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Interrogate

Catchwords

1. Costs
2. › Jurisdiction
3. › Magistrates Court
4. › Power to assess costs
5. › Whether magistrate had power to undertake assessment under UCPR r 681(2)
6. › Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld), r 681(2), r 681(3)
1. Costs
2. › Assessment
3. › Indemnity basis
4. › Relationship between scale of fees and indemnity assessment
5. › Whether UCPR r 690(4) limits indemnity costs to Magistrates Court scale or merely identifies scale for purposes of r 704(3)(a)
6. › Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld), r 690(4), r 704(3)
1. Costs
2. › Assessment
3. › Indemnity basis
4. › Reasonableness
5. › Whether concept of reasonableness under UCPR r 704(3) involves consideration of proportionality
6. › Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld), r 704(3)
1. Costs
2. › Jurisdiction
3. › Magistrates Court
4. › Statutory power to award costs
5. › Whether UCPR provides sufficient statutory basis for Magistrates Court to award costs in absence of specific Act
6. › Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 1999 (Qld), Ch 17
7. › Supreme Court of Queensland Act 1991 (Qld), s 118(1)
8. › Statutory Instruments Act 1992 (Qld), ss 8, 9

Quick Take

When assessing indemnity costs in the Magistrates Court under UCPR r 704(3), the scale in Schedule 3 identified by r 690(4) is but one consideration; it does not cap the assessment. The concept of reasonableness under r 704(3) involves a consideration of proportionality by necessary implication from r 704(3)(a). A magistrate has power under r 681(2) to conduct a full assessment of costs, not merely to set costs in a summary way, and r 704(3) applies to such assessments notwithstanding its reference only to 'the registrar'.