PI Brief Update

QOCS and Strike Out - Rebecca Jones, Hardwicke

15/12/15. There are many areas of the QOCS regime where the approach of the courts remains uncertain in the absence of detailed guidance in the CPR. We have seen reported cases regarding the fundamental dishonesty exception to QOCS but guidance regarding the strike out exception remains thin on the ground. This article covers some of the more recent developments in the realm of QOCS and strike out.

The CPR

The qualified one-way costs shifting regime provides that a successful Defendant may only enforce an order for costs to the extent that the Claimant has been awarded a sum for damages. Thus CPR 44.14 provides as follows:

44.14 Effect of qualified one-way costs shifting

(1) Subject to rules 44.15 and 44.16, orders for costs made against a claimant may be enforced without the permission of the court but only to the extent that the aggregate amount in money terms of such orders does not exceed the aggregate amount in money terms of any orders for damages and interest made in favour of the claimant.

(2) Orders for costs made against a claimant may only be enforced after the proceedings have been concluded and the costs have been assessed or agreed.

(3) An order for costs which is enforced only to the extent permitted by paragraph (1) shall not be treated as an unsatisfied or outstanding judgment for the purposes of any court record.

There are however certain exceptions to the normal application of QOCS, in relation to those cases where the Claimant is found to have been fundamentally dishonest and where a claim has been...

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