Costs and Funding Committee
The Costs and Funding Committee was established on 23 September 2013. The present Chair of the Committee is Lord Harrower.
Meetings of the Costs and Funding Committee are scheduled as required in line with progressing the Council's current business priorities. Agendas, papers and minutes are published here when available.
The Committee’s remit is concerned with those matters that can be regulated by the Court of Session by rules under-
- the power to make provision about the expenses that may be awarded in civil proceedings in the Court of Session, the sheriff court and the Sheriff Appeal Court;
- the power to make provision about fees in relation to such proceedings;
- the power to make provision about how orders sought in certain proceedings should be valued (for the purpose of the exclusive competence of the sheriff court, and for the purpose of the application of simple procedure); and
- the power to make provision about the rate of interest payable under a decree
In relation to these matters the Committee has a remit-
- to keep the relevant rules, tables and fees under review;
- to consider proposals for modification and reform; and
- to report to the Scottish Civil Justice Council with its recommendations and, where applicable, draft rules
In the exercise of the foregoing functions, the Committee is to take due account of the guiding principles of the Scottish Civil Justice Council -
- the civil justice system should be fair, accessible and efficient
- rules relating to practice and procedure should be as clear and easy to understand as possible,
- practice and procedure should, where appropriate, be similar in all civil courts, and
- methods of resolving disputes which do not involve the courts should, where appropriate, be promoted