Taxation of costs is a
ministerial function performed by a
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
upon the resolution of case. It involves entering the various costs and their amounts against the party (either the
claimant
A plaintiff ( Π in legal shorthand) is the party who initiates a lawsuit (also known as an ''action'') before a court. By doing so, the plaintiff seeks a legal remedy. If this search is successful, the court will issue judgment in favor of the ...
or
defendant
In court proceedings, a defendant is a person or object who is the party either accused of committing a crime in criminal prosecution or against whom some type of civil relief is being sought in a civil case.
Terminology varies from one jurisdic ...
) against whom those costs have been awarded by the court. The
itemisation of costs or the subsequent determination of the costs that should be allowed is not a determination of the outcome of the
litigation
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
.
This is now known as
detailed assessment in English law following the
Civil Procedure Act 1997
The Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) were introduced in 1997 as per the Civil Procedure Act 1997 by the Civil Procedure Rule Committee and are the rules of civil procedure used by the Court of Appeal, High Court of Justice, and County Courts in civil c ...
.
In early
common law
In law, common law (also known as judicial precedent, judge-made law, or case law) is the body of law created by judges and similar quasi-judicial tribunals by virtue of being stated in written opinions."The common law is not a brooding omnipresen ...
costs were unknown, but as early as 1278
an English statute was passed whereby costs could be awarded to the prevailing party (''Brown v. Consolidated Fisheries Co.,'' 18 F.R.D. 433).
Such costs can include items such as
witness
In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...
fees, mileage and subsistence, marshal's fees,
attorney's and other docket fees, and a
reporter's charge for
transcript.
{{law-term-stub
Civil procedure
Legal costs