Court/legal costs question

[Illuminatiprimus]

Hypothetical scenario:

I am on trial in a civil matter. The plaintiff is late to the trial and the judge fines him in contempt of court to the sum of £x. Trial proceeds and the judge rules in the plaintiffs favour, the judge rules that I am required to pay damages and, as the loser in the case, the court costs.

So - would I be required to pay the fine put on the plaintiff for being late as part of the court costs?

[Gfactor]

@Illuminatiprimus

Hypothetical scenario:

I am on trial in a civil matter. The plaintiff is late to the trial and the judge fines him in contempt of court to the sum of £x. Trial proceeds and the judge rules in the plaintiffs favour, the judge rules that I am required to pay damages and, as the loser in the case, the court costs.

So - would I be required to pay the fine put on the plaintiff for being late as part of the court costs?

No. A fine for contempt is not a taxable cost in any jurisdiction with which I am familiar.
*
E.g.,*

600.2405 Costs; items taxable.

Sec. 2405.
The following items may be taxed and awarded as costs unless otherwise directed:

(1) Any of the fees of officers, witnesses, or other persons mentioned in this chapter or in chapter 25, unless a contrary intention is stated.

(2) Matters specially made taxable elsewhere in the statutes or rules.

(3) The legal fees for any newspaper publication required by law.

(4) The reasonable expense of printing any required brief and appendix in the supreme court, including any brief on motion for leave to appeal.

(5) The reasonable costs of any bond required by law, including any stay of proceeding or appeal bond.

(6) Any attorney fees authorized by statute or by court rule.

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(ufakxs45sm5yij454cpo0q55)/mileg.aspx?page=GetMCLDocument&objectname=mcl-600-2405

[Bearflag70]

California has a statute that lists various categories of recoverable costs (e.g., filing fees, photocopies of exhibits, etc.). It also has a “catch-all” provision for “other reasonable costs” pursuant to a separate motion the prevailing party would have to file to recover.

I don’t think a contempt charge is on the list of automatically recoverable costs, and I don’t think the court would grant a motion requesting payment of contempt charges as a “reasonable cost” to be paid by the losing party.

[Bearflag70]

@Bearflag70

California has a statute that lists various categories of recoverable costs (e.g., filing fees, photocopies of exhibits, etc.). It also has a “catch-all” provision for “other reasonable costs” pursuant to a separate motion the prevailing party would have to file to recover.

I don’t think a contempt charge is on the list of automatically recoverable costs, and I don’t think the court would grant a motion requesting payment of contempt charges as a “reasonable cost” to be paid by the losing party.

I should add that the prevailing party may attempt to claim the contempt charge in its papers for automatic cost recovery. The paper the prevailing party files to recover costs is an itemization of claimed recoverable costs. Once the itemization is filed and served, the burden is on the losing party to file a motion to “tax” the improperly claimed cost off the list.

[Gfactor]

@Bearflag70

California has a statute that lists various categories of recoverable costs (e.g., filing fees, photocopies of exhibits, etc.). It also has a “catch-all” provision for “other reasonable costs” pursuant to a separate motion the prevailing party would have to file to recover.

1033.5. (a) The following items are allowable as costs under
Section 1032:
(1) Filing, motion, and jury fees.
(2) Juror food and lodging while they are kept together during
trial and after the jury retires for deliberation.
(3) Taking, videotaping, and transcribing necessary depositions
including an original and one copy of those taken by the claimant and
one copy of depositions taken by the party against whom costs are
allowed, and travel expenses to attend depositions.
(4) Service of process by a public officer, registered process
server, or other means, as follows:
(A) When service is by a public officer, the recoverable cost is
the fee authorized by law at the time of service.
(B) If service is by a process server registered pursuant to
Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 22350) of Division 8 of the
Business and Professions Code, the recoverable cost is the amount
actually incurred in effecting service, including, but not limited
to, a stakeout or other means employed in locating the person to be
served, unless such charges are successfully challenged by a party to
the action.
(C) When service is by publication, the recoverable cost is the
sum actually incurred in effecting service.
(D) When service is by a means other than that set forth in
subparagraph (A), (B) or (C), the recoverable cost is the lesser of
the sum actually incurred, or the amount allowed to a public officer
in this state for such service, except that the court may allow the
sum actually incurred in effecting service upon application pursuant
to paragraph (4) of subdivision (c).
(5) Expenses of attachment including keeper’s fees.
(6) Premiums on necessary surety bonds.
(7) Ordinary witness fees pursuant to Section 68093 of the
Government Code.
(8) Fees of expert witnesses ordered by the court.
(9) Transcripts of court proceedings ordered by the court.
(10) Attorney fees, when authorized by any of the following:
(A) Contract.
(B) Statute.
(C) Law.
(11) Court reporters fees as established by statute.
(12) Models and blowups of exhibits and photocopies of exhibits
may be allowed if they were reasonably helpful to aid the trier of
fact.
(13) Any other item that is required to be awarded to the
prevailing party pursuant to statute as an incident to prevailing in
the action at trial or on appeal.
(b) The following items are not allowable as costs, except when
expressly authorized by law:
(1) Fees of experts not ordered by the court.
(2) Investigation expenses in preparing the case for trial.
(3) Postage, telephone, and photocopying charges, except for
exhibits.
(4) Costs in investigation of jurors or in preparation for voir
dire.
(5) Transcripts of court proceedings not ordered by the court.
(c) Any award of costs shall be subject to the following:
(1) Costs are allowable if incurred, whether or not paid.
(2) Allowable costs shall be reasonably necessary to the conduct
of the litigation rather than merely convenient or beneficial to its
preparation.
(3) Allowable costs shall be reasonable in amount.
(4) Items not mentioned in this section and items assessed upon
application may be allowed or denied in the court’s discretion.
(5) When any statute of this state refers to the award of “costs
and attorney’s fees,” attorney’s fees are an item and component of
the costs to be awarded and are allowable as costs pursuant to
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (10) of subdivision (a). Any claim not
based upon the court’s established schedule of attorney’s fees for
actions on a contract shall bear the burden of proof. Attorney’s
fees allowable as costs pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph
(10) of subdivision (a) may be fixed as follows: (A) upon a noticed
motion, (B) at the time a statement of decision is rendered, (C) upon
application supported by affidavit made concurrently with a claim
for other costs, or (D) upon entry of default judgment. Attorney’s
fees allowable as costs pursuant to subparagraph (A) or (C) of
paragraph (10) of subdivision (a) shall be fixed either upon a
noticed motion or upon entry of a default judgment, unless otherwise
provided by stipulation of the parties.
Attorney’s fees awarded pursuant to Section 1717 of the Civil Code
are allowable costs under Section 1032 as authorized by subparagraph
(A) of paragraph (10) of subdivision (a).

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/waisgate?WAISdocID=9031184515+0+0+0&WAISaction=retrieve

While it might be possible for a party to blindside another party by taking advantage of the procedure for taxing costs, a fine for contempt just does not fit into the statutory scheme. Subsection (2) specifically says: " Allowable costs shall be** reasonably necessary to the conduct of the litigation** rather than merely convenient or beneficial to its preparation." (Emphasis added.)

A fine for contempt is a punishment.

Contempt of court
A act of defiance of court authority or dignity. Contempt of court can be direct (swearing at a judge or violence against a court officer) or constructive (disobeying a court order). The punishment for contempt is a fine or a brief stay in jail (i.e. overnight).

http://resources.lawinfo.com/index.cfm?action=dictionary&show=C

It is collateral to the merits of the case, and is usually imposed on a party for interfering with the conduct of the litigation. So it would be very difficult for a party to convince a court that a contempt fine was necessary to the conduct of the litigation. Not to mention, shifting fines and punitive damages (e.g., through insurance) is generally held to violate public policy. But see, http://www.andersonkill.com/publications/pa/pdf/199512.pdf (pdf) (arguing clause excluding coverage for fines and penalties should not exclude punitive damage coverage).

[Quartz]

Guys, the OP is in the U.K., so American cites

I can’t give a cite, but I used to do work for the magistrates courts, and the fine is actually unrelated to the settlement of the case; it is not a cost of the court case. They are seperate matters.

[Illuminatiprimus]

All good stuff though - thanks everyone. Basically checking how accurate a scene in a book I read was, this confirms my thinking that it’s not what happens in reality.

[Gfactor]

I think this provision and others found here and here (parts 43-48) apply to the taxation of costs in (at least in England and Wales?). It looks like these rules give the court a lot of discretion in taxing costs. I doubt it would change the results, but the analysis would be different. I’d be interested in hearing a UK lawyer’s analysis of the OP.