"This means that there is no order for costs to be recovered from the other side but the court is making an order that there be a detailed assessment carried out by the court if this is applicable.

A detailed assessment is where the solicitor prepares, unsurprisingly, a detailed bill of costs showing all work that has been carried out under the terms of the public funding certificate."

Detailed assessment

For more complex cases a process, formerly called a taxation of costs, now known as detailed assessment, is used. It is unrelated to "tax" in the sense of a method of raising government revenue. The successful party must file with the court a detailed breakdown of the costs and disbursements incurred, known as a bill of costs which sets out the successful party's claim. The bill is usually prepared by a law costs draftsman, whose skill is often as essential to successful litigation as that of a solicitor or barrister. An officer of the court, Costs Judge or District Judge will then assess the reasonableness of the costs with reference to a statutory schedule of limits of entitlements of costs, together with legal precedents, unless the costs can be agreed between the parties. The level of reduction can mean that the bill is reduced in some instances substantially, but in most cases at least 80% of the costs originally sought will be allowed. A court order for costs is enforceable as a debt against the unsuccessful party.[14]

Either party can appeal against a detailed assessment, to a Costs Judge or District Judge of the High Court if the assessment was made by a court officer, or by the usual routes of appeal if the assessment was made by a judge.