1Under UCPR r 247(3), the usual position on a non-party disclosure application is that each party bears its own costs; a departure under r 247(4) requires consideration of the merit of objections, the public interest in efficient litigation, and the public interest in not discouraging good faith objections by non-parties.
2A non-party's failure to put adequate evidence before the court to substantiate a privilege claim — resulting in the court being required to inspect documents and the parties being put to the expense of a further hearing — may justify a partial costs order against the non-party, even where the privilege objection was otherwise made in good faith and partially upheld.
3Where parties have by correspondence agreed on a date of service of a notice of non-party disclosure, a party cannot later contend that objections served within time from the agreed date were out of time from the original (defective) service date.
