Legal Aid Act 1978

A court may make in favour of an assisted person any such order for costs as it may make in favour of a person who is not an assisted person notwithstanding that no amount has been paid or is or will be payable for costs by the assisted person in whose favour the order is made or that the costs so ordered are in excess of the total amount paid or payable for costs by the assisted person.

All costs payable under the terms of any judgment or order or of any settlement of an action or claim to a person who has been assisted under this Act in the obtaining of such judgment order or settlement (except any portion of such costs as may be for services rendered or disbursements paid for that person before he was so assisted) shall be payable to VLA which shall be entitled to exercise in the name of that person all rights and remedies in relation to the recovery of such costs which that person would be entitled to exercise if he were not an assisted person.

A person who is liable to pay any costs payable under this section to VLA and to whose legal practitioner notice in writing of the rights of VLA in relation thereto has been given by VLA or the legal practitioner who obtained the judgment order or settlement for the assisted person shall not be discharged from his liability by reason only of his making any payment in respect thereof to any person other than VLA or such legal practitioner.

On the assessment of costs payable under the terms of any judgment or order or of any settlement of an action or claim to an assisted person no item thereof shall be disallowed merely because the assisted person is by reason of his being an assisted person under no obligation to pay in whole or in part for the service to which the item relates or in the case of a disbursement (whether for counsel's fees or otherwise) merely because the amount thereof has not been paid prior to the assessment.