Singapore International Commercial Court Rules 2021

ORDER 22

COSTS

Definition and general matters (O. 22, r. 1)

1.—(1) This Order applies to the costs of or incidental to any application or proceedings in the Court, any appeal from the Court to the Court of Appeal and any application to the Court of Appeal.

(2) In this Order, “costs” includes charges, disbursements, expenses, fees and remuneration.

(3) Costs in any matter are payable from the date of the order of the Court unless the parties otherwise agree.

(4) All agreements between the parties relating to costs must be in writing unless the parties otherwise agree.

(5) The costs of a third-party funding contract are not recoverable as part of the costs of, or costs that are incidental to —

(a)	any application or proceedings in the Court;
(b)	any application to the Court of Appeal; or
(c)	any appeal from the Court to the Court of Appeal.

Powers of Court (O. 22, r. 2)

2.—(1) Subject to any written law, costs are in the discretion of the Court and the Court has the power to determine all issues relating to the costs of or incidental to all proceedings, including by whom and to what extent the costs are to be paid, at any stage of the proceedings or after the conclusion of the proceedings.

(2) In exercising its power under paragraph (1), the Court may —

(a)	apportion costs between the parties, disallow or reduce a successful party’s costs or order costs against a successful party if the Court determines that such an order is reasonable, taking into account the circumstances of the case;
(b)	order 2 or more parties’ costs to be set off against one another so that only the balance has to be paid;
(c)	order costs to be paid by counsel personally, by a Third‑Party Funder or by any other person who is not a party to the application or to the proceedings;
(d)	order interest on costs;
(e)	make any ancillary order, including time and manner of payment; and
(f)	stay or dismiss any application, action or appeal or make any other order as it deems fit if a party refuses or neglects to pay any costs ordered within the specified time, whether the costs were ordered in the present proceedings or in some related proceedings.

(3) Costs are to be fixed or assessed by the Court which heard the matter.

(4) The Court may fix the amount of costs to be paid or assess the costs after an oral hearing or by way of written submissions from the parties.

Entitlement to costs and assessment of costs (O. 22, r. 3)

3.—(1) Without affecting the scope of the Court’s discretion in Rule 2(1), and subject to any provisions to the contrary in these Rules, a successful party is entitled to costs and the quantum of any costs award will generally reflect the costs incurred by the party entitled to costs, subject to the principles of proportionality and reasonableness.

(2) In considering proportionality and reasonableness, the Court may have regard to all relevant circumstances, including —

(a)

the complexity of the case and the difficulty or novelty of the questions involved;

(b)

the skill, specialised knowledge and responsibility required of, and the time and labour expended by, the counsel;

(c)

the urgency and importance of the action to the parties;

(d)

the number of counsel involved in the case for each party;

(e)

the conduct of the parties, including in particular —

(i)	conduct before, as well as during the application or proceeding;
(ii)	whether it was reasonable for a party to raise, pursue or contest a particular allegation or issue;
(iii)	the manner in which a party has pursued or contested a particular allegation or issue; and
(iv)	whether the conduct of the parties, including conduct in respect of alternative dispute resolution, facilitated the smooth and efficient disposal of the case;

(f)

the amount or value of the claim;

(g)

the stage at which the proceedings were concluded;

(h)

the existence of any offer to settle, the date the offer was made, the terms of the offer and the extent to which the claimant’s judgment is more favourable than the terms of the offer to settle;

(i)

the existence of an agreement as to the amount of, basis for, or mechanics for, the determination of a costs award; and

(j)

the estimates provided in a costs schedule.

(3) If the defendant pays the amount claimed within the time and in the manner required by the endorsement on the Originating Application, the costs allowed are to be fixed at $10,000.

(4) The party who discontinues any application, action or appeal wholly or partly must pay any other party the costs of the matter discontinued, unless the parties otherwise agree or the Court otherwise directs.

(5) In the case of any proceedings transferred to the Court from the General Division, the Court will assess —

(a)	costs up to the date of transfer taking into account the circumstances of the case including that the General Division costs regime as set out in the domestic Rules of Court would have applied to those costs; and
(b)	costs after the date of transfer taking into account the circumstances of the case and in this regard, the Court is not precluded from taking into account the General Division costs regime as set out in the domestic Rules of Court.

Costs for litigant not legally represented (O. 22, r. 4)

4. The Court may award costs to a successful party who is not represented by counsel that would compensate the party reasonably for the time and work required for the proceedings and for all expenses incurred reasonably.

Power of appellate court to decide costs (O. 22, r. 5)

5. In the case of an appeal, the Court of Appeal may decide the costs of the appeal and of the proceedings from which the appeal arose, as well as the costs of any proceedings connected with them if all relevant parties have been given a reasonable opportunity to be heard.

Interest on costs (O. 22, r. 6)

6. The costs mentioned in the first column of the following table carry interest at 5.33% per year from the corresponding date set out in the second column until payment:

First column

Second column

Type of costs

Commencement Date

(a)	Assessed costs

Date of assessment

(b)	Costs fixed by the Court

Date of order

(c)	Costs agreed between the parties

Date of agreement

(d)	Costs on judgment with or without trial

Date of judgment

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