QOCS: Testing Boundaries - Jamie Carpenter, Hailsham Chambers
16/01/15. In a system of civil litigation in which the general rule is “loser pays”, qualified one-way costs shifting (QOCS) is one of the more radical of the Jackson reforms. Although the English legal system is used to restrictions on costs recovery in publicly funded litigation, QOCS goes far further in prohibiting costs recovery by successful Defendants in all personal injury and related claims in all but the most exceptional of circumstances and without reference to the Claimant’s means. It is unsurprising, therefore, that Defendants are keen to establish the limits of QOCS and in two recent cases they have succeeded in restricting its scope, specifically in relation to third party claims and appeals under the transitional provisions.
The Rules
The QOCS rules are contained in Section II of CPR Part 44 and are deceptively simple. CPR 44.13 and 44.14 establish the class of claims to which QOCS applies and the basic operation of the principle...
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